All At Once
by amycakes
Summary: He couldn't deny it a second time, that this feeling like pain in his chest? It was sadness. Sadness for Klaus. Sympathy for Klaus. Feeling for Klaus. Klefan
1. I

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>When Klaus had wanted Stefan to join him in exchange for saving his brother, he had believed the hybrid's words – that it was because of the stories he'd heard. Because of Stefan's nature when he drank human blood. That need, that desire that caused him to nearly black out, savaging his victims and tearing their bodies apart. He believed that to be why he was considered an asset. Because he was a true 'ripper'.<p>

Now though, he wasn't so sure.

Oh he'd done his fair share of killing. To satisfy Klaus' lust for destruction he'd left a trail of body parts up and down the eastern seaboard. But he could tell, this wasn't why he was here.

He wasn't necessary to Klaus' little mission of creating a race just like him, an army of hybrids. The original was strong enough to hold his own with even packs of werewolves and any other supernatural beings he would run into along the way that _might_ just be stupid enough – or suicidal enough – to provoke him.

So why?

It bothered Stefan. The way Klaus would ask him why he wasn't 'having fun' when he was killing, or torturing, or any of the other heinous things he did for him. No. Not for him. _For Elena_, Stefan reminded himself. To keep her safe.

The more he repeated it to himself however the falser it sounded. The overused line sprung a million doubts into his mind.

Why was he still here? He missed her, of course, he missed her terribly. And he loved her it was true. But he couldn't for some reason justify this, all he was doing, staying with Klaus, just for her. Just to save her.

He would do anything to save his brother, in a heartbeat. Klaus knew that, he knew exactly how to coerce Stefan into joining him for a future of indeterminable length. Stefan would do anything for his brother, his only living family.

That was why he stayed, he concluded in his mind. Why he was trying so hard to get his older brother to stop following him, to stop Elena from looking for him. To leave him behind. He may have loved Elena, but not enough to go back to her, knowing it would bring harm to Damon. No matter how his older brother may have ruined his life in the past, family was still the most important thing to him.

He couldn't lie to himself, some part of him, a part that was steadily growing larger every day, loved this lifestyle. The freedom, the thrill of the hunt, the blood, god the blood. Going back to consuming only human blood was like...going back to eating full roast dinners after years of starvation. It only made him hate himself the more for it.

Klaus knew this. He knew more often than not how he felt, what he was thinking, even if Stefan never let an ounce of expression cross his face. Klaus got inside his mind. Picking at his frustrations, his own self-hatred and pulling on his greatest desires. He knew exactly what made him tick – and Stefan hated him for it.

Even knowing this however the hybrid constantly surprised him. Whenever he thought he understood him, thought he had his character down - he would do a complete one-eighty, throwing Stefan off balance entirely. He never knew what to expect, or how to react and it was driving him crazy.

When he was invited into a little isolated house in Tennessee and the older vampire told him to kill them both, making one of them suffer, it was not in any way unusual from the last few months.

He tried to convey his apologies with his eyes. They didn't deserve this, no one did. But he had to.

He fed.

As soon as the first drops of blood hit his tongue the world became a blur around him. He remembered nothing, he _felt_ nothing, nothing but the sweet tang of human blood sliding across his lips and down his throat. He lost all sense of time. All sense of anything. It could have been minutes, or hours later when his eyes refocused and he actually _saw_ what he was looking at.

The blonde's head on the floor. Detached from her body.

He stood stock still, hardly bearing to even look up around the room – at the body parts on the floor, at the blood on the walls – this wasn't even the room he'd began in. His hands shook as he slowly bent down and picked up the blonde's body, placing her on the couch next to her friend and reconstructing her. The remorse welled in his throat. They weren't werewolves or vampires or even witches. They were just humans. Just young girls.

He stood, hands still shaking as he turned, only for his eyes to meet Klaus, leaning silently in the door frame, staring hard at him. It was impossible to know how long he'd been there, though Stefan assumed at least long enough for him to witness his attempt at human puzzles. He tensed, staring back. His brain screaming 'danger' but his hands couldn't – _wouldn't_ – stop shaking.

The original did nothing but watch him silently as he probably had for some time, before abruptly stepping forward. Stefan inhaled sharply as he crossed the room towards him, trying not to flinch but expecting the worst. He fought the urge to close his eyes and kept them focused on the hybrid's blue ones that were gazing at him with something indiscernible.

Cold hands slowly closed over his own, holding them together deliberately, stilling the tremors instantly.

He hated himself for showing weakness, he hated the way he noticed the softness of the others hands, he hated the way he felt – the gratified feeling rising in his gut. And then they were gone. And just like that so was he, striding out into the hall and disappearing out of the house.

Stefan felt things were tense after that, but Klaus' demeanor never wavered, as if nothing had occurred, so letting him take the lead, Stefan followed – just as he'd been doing for the last three months.

There was a part of him though that itched with curiosity. That wanted to know what that look meant. What that whole night meant really. It was another piece of the mystery in which all roads led to the big question – what did someone as powerful as Klaus want from Stefan Salvatore.

That niggling feeling of curiosity only heightened when they ended up at the bar 'Southern Comfort' to find the werewolf 'Ray'. He didn't enjoy being Klaus' muscle by any means. He was good at it, but he didn't like doing it and it irritated him even more to know Klaus didn't need him for it. After hundreds of years Stefan was sure Klaus was quite experienced in torture.

He thought, perhaps, as he compelled all the patrons of the bar to take no notice of the future drama, that maybe he made him do it simply because he _knew_ he didn't want to. It seemed to Stefan that for some reason Klaus was trying to change him, to make him enjoy the bloodshed.

The werewolf they had finally tracked down and cornered kept glancing over, as if he knew that Stefan wasn't quite so cold, begging for help with his eyes. He stared back despondently. He couldn't afford to cross Klaus. And besides, if an answer didn't come from this werewolf, he told himself, the deaths of all the human's he'd had to kill along the way would be for nothing.

He pulled out the pouch of wolfsbane he'd been carrying and ordered a scotch, ready to begin his game of 'truth or wolfsbane'. Klaus mouth spread into a little grin and as Stefan stepped closer to his latest victim he was struck with the realization he was feeling less guilty than he should be. Maybe Klaus was right, the more human blood you drink the easier it gets. Or maybe, maybe this is a very real side to him, and it doesn't take much to bring it out.

With Ray chained in front of the dartboard, he begun his little game, his conscience praying that the idiot would just tell them what they wanted to know quickly, though he knew it was unlikely.

Six throws later of darts soaked in a mixture of wolfsbane and scotch and Ray still wasn't talking, only screaming and all Stefan could focus on was the feeling of Klaus' eyes on his back. He turned to find him lounging back at the bar, feet up, watching him with a pleased smirk.

He waltzed up to the werewolf. "Ray, you can end this right now," he forced a sardonic tone, "just tell us where your pack gathers for the full moon."

He really, really hoped the idiot would just spill because to be honest Stefan was getting a little tired of this already. It wasn't his favourite pastime. But no, it seemed Ray was loyal which while admirable was irritating for him.

"Look," Stefan outlined to him, "He is not going to let me stop until you tell me, and I do whatever he says, that's the way it goes around here." He caught the pleased smirk Klaus adopted at that and nearly gave a small grin before he caught himself.

He was about to pull another poisoned dart from the wolf's chest when a woman approached Klaus. His heart sunk as half their conversation managed to reach his ears. He slowly approached the blonde who stared at him intently.

"So they're still on our trail?"

When Klaus replied that he was getting closer and continued, "I'm going to have to deal with that." Stefan sprung into action.

"No, no, no." He began, "let me handle it." He didn't want Klaus anywhere near his brother. He had no doubt in his mind that Damon meant nothing in his grand scheme of things and that with his sharp tongue his older brother would be dead within the first five minutes of meeting the original again.

Klaus stopped, peering back over his shoulder before turning around fully. "Why should I let you leave?" He was no longer pleased, bordering on angry and this didn't bode well for Stefan, especially when he was trying to convince him to let him have his way.

The older vampire obviously didn't believe for one second that he would return if given the chance to leave his presence. He seemed at least a little genuinely fascinated when Stefan assured him that he 'knew he'd come back'. And to lay it on a little more he quickly added an assuring reminder that the hybrid had saved his brother and he was in his debt for it.

And again he went, asking if he wasn't, "having the least bit of fun" torturing their captive – as if he had joined him willingly and should be enjoying such a task. Not knowing how to respond as honestly, he himself didn't know the answer, he ignored the jibe and told him he would keep his brother from following them again. He then, as much as he hated to admit it, retreated out of the bar and into the sunlight – headed for mystic falls.

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><p>I decided to have a go at actually starting something with the intention of finishing it, so this is a replacement of the original chapter, which is now chapter three because I've written two set before that one, capiche?<p>

Your thoughts are valued as always my lovelies :)


	2. II

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>When he re-entered the 'Southern Comfort' his eyes immediately sought out Klaus. He wasn't looking for any approval, he told himself, forcing himself to believe it. He only wanted to make sure that the hybrid didn't go after Damon himself.<p>

He saw him immediately, over by the pool table, Ray sprawled out on top of it. Klaus had clearly gotten out of him what Stefan couldn't and he told himself he didn't want to know how he'd done it and in such a short amount of time.

The blonde had his wrist torn open, blood flowing freely down his pale flesh and into the unwilling werewolf's throat. The werewolf was bucking up against him trying to escape and Klaus was saying something to the general population of the bar but Stefan didn't hear any of it. All he could focus on, all he could see and smell was the original's pale wrist and the thick red substance flowing out of his veins.

He shook himself, as the hybrid snapped Ray's neck, killing him instantly for what he assumed was step two of the turning process. Klaus looked up at him then. He was amazingly self-assured for someone who seemed to have thought earlier that he wouldn't return.

"You're back."

He felt bitter as he strode towards the older vampire. "Did you doubt me?"

"Not for a second." For a moment, Stefan felt pleased before he pushed it away, annoyed.

After that Klaus, sounding just as bitter as he himself did, managed to push exactly the right button – as he always does – in saying that he still cared about his brother, about his old life. It was the most irritating thing to Stefan about this entire deal. If only he _could_ switch it off, to forget, to not feel anything, it would all be fine – better. But he couldn't. As hard as he tried he couldn't help but care about Damon, just as he always has.

Instantly he felt the same bitterness rear it's head again. "I don't care about anything anymore." He choked out, striding over to the bar, just so he didn't have to face the other.

"You put on a good show Stefan, I almost believed you. Let's hope for his sake that your brother does." He could feel Klaus' presence right behind him, his breath on his exposed neck. Close enough to bite. Stefan inhaled sharply and couldn't help but close his eyes.

As the blonde whispered in his ear, "You never stop caring about family, do you?" His heart began to ache. And as the original began to whisper that every time he feeds it will get a little easier, he couldn't help but feel hope despite himself. Klaus always knew exactly what to say, and though he was saying it out of spite and bitterness, it was exactly what Stefan needed to hear. Something that he needed to hold on to. To hope for.

He stared back at him dispassionately, a million emotions flickering through his eyes before standing abruptly and quickly making his way out the bar, feeling Klaus' eyes burning into his back all the way to the door.

The fresh air hit his face, his enhanced senses telling him that it would rain soon, but nothing could distract him from the images in his mind. The things he'd done. What he'd done today far outweighing anything of the past three months.

He'd killed his brother's girlfriend. Sure she was compelled but Stefan knew that on some level Damon did care for her, if only for her companionship – he wouldn't have kept her around otherwise. Other faceless, nameless people he killed didn't matter, but this, this affected his family. The one he was trying to protect by doing all of this. The one he was still trying to protect. He needed to convince himself that he was doing the right thing, that he was still inherently _good_.

In that moment he'd never felt more like Damon, like he completely understood him finally and yet, so estranged from him at the same time. Killing the reporter hadn't mattered at the time, all that mattered was keeping his brother safe, he was just trying to make sure Damon wouldn't follow him, because damn it, he couldn't help but care about him.

Reliving the look on his brother's face over and over, he forced back the urge to cry. The stinging in the corners of his eyes something he hadn't felt since Lexi had died. He ran a hand through his hair and pulled, hard enough to hurt.

And god it was Elena's birthday. He had barely even spared her so much as a thought in the past few days and a part of this was for her, still is for her as well. He took out his phone and dialed. He thought, no he _knew_, that if he could just hear Elena's voice, that she could fix it. That she could make him feel hope, that he'd done the right thing in trying to protect them.

Hearing her voice for the first time in months he finally let a tear slip. He hated being so weak, but Elena, Elena was another person that always knew exactly what to say and still did, even though he hadn't replied, hadn't even confirmed it was him. He could hold onto her love. The fact that someone knew he was trying.

He was doing the right thing, he had to be.

His lip was trembling as he finally lowered the phone from his ear, not having said a word. They would probably spend a couple more hours here before Klaus would want to move out. They'd feed first, then find somewhere to sleep for the few hours they needed.

It seemed the bar had a few rooms out back that were probably for truckers that needed an overnight stop and Stefan assumed they'd just use them, he'd already compelled most of the patrons anyway.

He re-entered the bar only to have Klaus appear in front of him, much faster than even a vampire eye could track. His baby blues studied his face intensely and Stefan considered the fact that his eyes might be reddened from the effort of holding all his emotions in. He sucked in a breath as the original reached up a hand before seemingly thinking better of it and dropping his arm silently.

He brushed passed Stefan and led him back out into the parking lot following a young brunette girl who'd just exited the same way. "Time for dinner."

Stefan didn't say anything, preferring to remain silent and just follow. He always did this, as if to get a rise out of Stefan. Instead of taking any easy target and just feeding he _made_ a target out of young girls or the like because he _knew_ that it would get Stefan all wound up. Still brooding, the younger vampire only looked up when Klaus stopped walking, the girl boxed in between two cars, one of them seemingly hers.

Klaus grinned as the girl rifled through her bag, presumably searching for the keys as he raised a set in his hand. "Looking for these?"

Her head shot up, startled. "Wha-?"

Stefan didn't let her finish. He didn't want to scare her, he didn't want to see her fear or the look in her eyes when she knew it was hopeless – that she was going to die. He appeared behind her in a second, clamping down on her neck and tearing into her jugular. She was dead before she knew what had happened.

"Stefan, you're ruining all my fun." Klaus said, though the small smile he wore said he was amused at least.

He looked up at the hybrid, his mouth hanging apart, dripping with blood, black veins straining against the skin around his eyes. The gaze he then received set him alight, it was as if the look in Klaus' eyes had set fire to every vein in his body. It was somehow heated.

He stared as Klaus strode towards him where he stood holding onto the girl, seemingly entranced.

The hairs on the back of his neck rose, they were close enough to touch. He stared back into blue eyes, unable to turn away. There was a flicker there and he seemed to move closer, then in a second it was gone and Klaus launched his fangs into the other side of the girl's neck and began to feed.

Unable to resist the flowing blood now that he wasn't focused on the other he went back to feeding, suddenly ravenous. Unlike many times before though he was aware of what he was doing, never loosing himself. He caught Klaus' eyes again over the neck of the girl and fumbled, letting the girl go and stepping back, gasping as he the force of what he was doing hit him all at once.

The older vampire stopped, dropping the girl and looking at him curiously.

Stefan stared back into his eyes wondering why the hell he couldn't just stop feeling?

He tried to use his vampire speed to get away, to go as far as he could – anywhere but here, but Klaus was an original and he was far quicker than him. An arm thrown out practically coathangered him before he could even see it in his path and he fell to the ground but was up within seconds.

He tried to dodge around Klaus again, all at speeds that would be a blur to an ordinary human, but probably seemed like slow motion to Klaus because he'd barely even shot passed him when he was caught around the waist by a strong arm and hauled backwards.

He felt warm blood dripping from Klaus' mouth behind him onto his neck and down his shoulder, eyes burning intensely at the side of his face.

"I don't understand Stefan, why you can't just enjoy yourself."

He refused to answer, remaining stubbornly silent, the solid arm still present around his waist preventing any further chances at escape.

"You shouldn't waste blood Stefan," was whispered in his ear, "it's what makes us stronger." As if to back up his statement, the original mouth then covered his throat, tongue clearing up the blood that had been dripped there and setting his veins on fire all over again. Stefan groaned, tilting his head to the side as fangs scraped his neck before freezing completely – mortified.

A second passed as he stood still, not moving an inch and then suddenly; he was alone.

He turned around to the empty car park, gasping, pulling a hand up to run his fingers over his throat.

"What the hell just happened?"

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><p>YN? (:


	3. III

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>It was easier for him now. Everything was. From killing his brother's compelled girlfriend that he wasn't <em>quite<em> convinced he didn't care for, to hauling Ray's dead weight not once, but twice across a mountain range in Tennessee. Everything was easier on Klaus' insisted 'healthy diet of human blood'. Including watching Elena walk away.

He didn't want to forget the life he'd made in Mystic Falls this time around, but it was better for everyone concerned if he never looked back. He knew that. Damon knew that now too and hopefully he could convince Elena of the same – or at the very least keep her in Mystic Falls.

He winced, shifting Ray's dead body over his shoulders, trying to avoid the werewolf-turned hybrid's clothing from rubbing against the gaping wound in his arm that was beginning to fester, his veins and the surrounding skin turning a dark grey-blue reminding him of how he ended up in the situation in the first place. Werewolf bites were fatal to a vampire without Klaus' blood and he sincerely doubted that he'd be on the receiving end of any acts of kindness from the original anytime soon.

It was more than likely that he would be left to a slow and painful death. He wondered, as he trekked back through the trees, where exactly Klaus' attempted turning of the werewolf pack had gone sour. They had been scouring the east coast all summer and Stefan had no doubts that the blonde vampire would be furious that the implementation of his new race had failed.

Then again, if Stefan himself thought of a few months as nothing in the scheme of things, they would be even less to Klaus, an original whose years eclipsed his a thousand times over. Traveling with him had taught the brunette though that the older vampire had a temper. He was a little like a child in that respect. So experienced, so deadly – but if something didn't go his way he erupted.

That was why when he entered the the small settlement that had been alive with pained, turning werewolves hours before only to find them scattered across the ground unmoving he was expecting the anger. He stilled for only a moment, seeing the original perched upon a log, bottle in hand, before continuing further, finally dropping Ray's dead body onto the ground, heaving a sigh of relief as he did despite himself.

Gripping the now-throbbing bite in his arm, he forced himself to straighten up as Klaus began to speak.

"They went rabid. Some of them I killed, the others just…bled out."

A strange sensation pulled in his chest as he stared across the clearing at the blonde. The disparaging voice of the original was confusing to him when he expected an outright explosion of fury. He stared at the despondent, clearly distressed form across from him and tried to shake the feeling but it lodged somewhere between his chest and throat and wouldn't leave.

The closest thing he could think to compare it to was pain, but that was too strange to consider so he pushed to idea from his mind completely. He tensed as Klaus stood and began to move towards him and then came the anger. He really was like a time bomb, ticking, being chipped away at until finally, something set him off.

What surprised Stefan however was that the anger wasn't channeled into bodily harm – namely his. He supposed however that was an unjustified assumption. Though he hadn't 'failed' to carry out any orders before he had gotten into quite a bit of verbal sparring with the other vampire. He had, suffice to say, stepped on the elder's toes more than once and had never been responded to with full out, physical violence. Sarcasm maybe, a little sardonic smile and a comeback definitely and once or twice a hand to his throat, but he had never bled by his hand.

Why was he even thinking this? It was not an unreasonable assumption that Klaus would raise a hand against him in anger, his nature wasn't exactly a secret. Still…Stefan shook it off, resolved not to think about it again, after all, what he thought he knew could change at any moment. You never really knew with Klaus.

As the hybrid threw the bottle he'd been drinking from across the clearing, screaming, he took a step forward, then stopped; unsure. As the other began to talk again he stared, eyes wide. His heart leapt however at the mention of the doppelganger.

All the pieces fell into place in his mind. The reason the turnings wouldn't work, why Klaus was failing to create more 'like him' – Elena was still alive – unbeknownst to him he hadn't killed the doppelganger at all. He tried to conceal his reaction, the way his heart leapt into his throat, the way his stomach dropped, feeling heavy like it was full of rocks but the original glanced at him sharply and he knew he'd been caught. His heart was pounding in his chest as Klaus' brow furrowed and he studied him. He gulped and strained not to flinch outright, only to stare astonished as the hybrid _let it go_.

Mind still whirling around his fumbled slip he could only blink, wide eyed as the other stated, "you look like hell."

Kicking himself into gear he made a comment about his current predicament, reminding the hybrid that he was dying, if only to get a reaction from him, because his seeming apathy towards him was confusing Stefan even more. He wondered briefly if it was some kind of tactic before brushing it off.

He watched in amazement as Klaus' eyes flickered to the ground as he continued, "and you don't want to heal me." His eyes remained fixated on the earth below them and Stefan felt at least a little hope rise in his chest as he tried to catch his gaze with his own.

Klaus' body language could be deceiving at the best of times, but now, all Stefan could garner was perhaps a sliver of sadness, but that couldn't be right, could it? He felt his stomach churn with what he thought may be guilt and he began to speak.

Klaus finally raised his gaze when Stefan for some reason felt the need to impress upon him that he had to kill the half-turned werewolf he was sent after and it became a flat out stare when the words, "I failed you," slipped from his mouth. The nagging feeling he refused to call guilt eased a little and he tensed, annoyed with himself, with his _feelings_. He actually wished that he had just 'switched them off' as Damon had assumed.

He couldn't stop himself from uttering the words "I'm sorry," and his legs moved seemingly of their own accord to bring him closer to the hybrid. He felt like he was compelled but he knew it to be untrue. They both knew he had been consuming vervain since before he even began traveling with the other.

Klaus stared into his eyes and the youngest Salvatore brother frowned when he simply said , "it should have worked." And turned to walk back to his previous spot by the upturned tree. That was twice now that Klaus had let him get away something that by all accounts of his character he should have ripped him apart for. The only explanation was that he still needed Stefan for something, that he needed him on his side. There was no way that he had misread the blonde's character, he was evil. A monster bordering right on the line of psycho.

But then why?

His eyes grew wide and that little spark of hope rose fully in his chest again as the older vampire turned, skin around his eyes darkening with black veins as he snarled, revealing his fangs and ripping the flesh of his wrist apart. He was vaguely aware of the other wincing as he drained the blood into a beer bottle but all he could do was stare, fixated on the pale wrist where blood was gushing out, staining a pale hand and forearm. His mouth watered.

It was all he could do to avert his gaze and accept the offered bottle when it was held out to him. A part of him, the consumed most of his mind wanted so badly to lash out, pull that arm towards him and sink his fangs into the soft flesh, sucking on the hybrid's radial artery until he'd had his fill.

But he couldn't – he shouldn't – want that. He pushed his wild thoughts, his desire to the back of his mind, disgusted with himself, resolving not to think of it again. The look on Klaus' face however, when he let go of the bottle with a small smirk and turned to walk away said that he knew exactly what the younger vampire was thinking.

His self-detriment ground to a screeching halt when Klaus turned around again, after gazing at the carnage around him to say softly, "it appears that you're the only comrade I have left." And Stefan's heart clenched.

He couldn't deny it a second time, that this feeling, like pain in his chest - was sadness. Sadness for Klaus. Sympathy for Klaus. _Feeling_ for Klaus. He wished again that he could switch this off, his heart stuttering as the hybrid walked away.

But he couldn't. He wasn't happy about it, but he couldn't. This only made the feeling worse and he resigned himself to it as he threw his head back, raising the bottle to his lips, tasting what he'd so arduously wanted to pull from the veins by force a minute ago. It – _he_ – was exquisite. Gone in seconds, he stared at the empty bottle in his hand for a moment before tossing it aside and traipsing after the other, as he'd become so accustomed to doing these past few months.

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><p>AN: So, dear ones, better? Or worse? ;)

PS. I wanted to thank Lynn for the detailed feedback too, so since you don't have an account I'll do it here :)


	4. IV

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>Stefan stood at the window, picking at the sleeve of the t-shirt he was wearing. They had long since returned from the mountain range and the night had grown colder as it moved into the wee hours of the morning. He was staring out of the large glass panes at the front of a recreation room on the second story of an old lodge style home, in the backwaters somewhere outside Tennessee.<p>

The original owners of the house were an older man and a young girl, brunette, pretty around eighteen or so. Sometimes Stefan thought Klaus might pick young brunette girls to torment him, because they were always reminiscent of Elena in features. But that was impossible. It's not like he scouted out tonight's victims, they just happened to live here – just a coincidence and nothing more.

He snorted to himself. He was being ridiculous really. He hadn't fed from the girl anyway, or the man for that matter. More annoying to himself was that it wasn't due to self-righteousness of any sort, though he supposed he should be rid of that by now anyway. His brow furrowed remembering the churning in his gut as he had stared down at the brown-eyed girl Klaus had compelled before throwing at him. He tried for a good few minutes to place the feeling while Klaus stared at him expectantly.

"I'm not hungry." He had said, throwing the girl away from him and onto the couch, before leaning against the wall and averting his eyes. It wasn't that he wasn't hungry of course, he was _always_ hungry these days. The girl was simply..._unappetizing_. After tasting the ambrosia that was Klaus' blood he couldn't imagine drinking anything else. And that upset him more than anything. A small, dark part of him wished for a moment that he could feed on the human girl, just tear into her flesh anyway and drain her.

He had pushed his hands into his pockets to conceal their twitching, disgusted with the dark voice in his mind that was becoming ever more prevalent as he traveled with Klaus.

The original had stopped drinking from the older man in his grasp and raised a brow. He looked between Stefan and the girl.

"Go ahead, you have her." The younger vampire sighed, trying to display a bored countenance.

The hybrid, clearly not believing his story, dropped the older man to the ground and moved towards the girl on the couch. "Alright then." And with that he snarled, descending his fangs in a movement faster than human eyes could follow and tore into the brunettes throat. She died immediately.

Stefan looked down, trying to keep an air of nonchalence but annoyed with himself on the inside. Klaus didn't feed from the girl anyway, he simply killed her attempting to force a reaction. He never stopped blaming himself though, for all the people that Klaus had killed, that he had killed.

"You're really not hungry Stefan?" The original enquired mockingly, swaggering towards him across the living room, dripping blood on the soft, cream carpet.

"That's what I said isn't it?" He had hissed out scathingly, glaring at Klaus, remaining stock-still as the other ventured closer.

"I don't believe you." He answered simply, coming to stand directly in front of him, leaving barely inches between them.

Stefan stared into the hybrids blue eyes, his brain working furiously to figure out exactly what the hybrid was trying to do, only to freeze as the blonde used a sharp nail to slice a thin line in his own throat. Stefan's breath hitched and his mouth went dry, eyes darting to the small trickle of red, slowly making it's way down Klaus' pale neck.

He took a sharp breath in, feeling his eyes turn black with want and the veins surrounding them begin to pulse. He needed only struggle against himself for a moment before the wound closed in front of his eyes and a pale hand wiped away the red liquid left dripping.

His eyes had slowly made their way back to the hybrid's face to find a smirk crossing his lips. "What a shame, Stefan." He whispered before disappearing from the room.

The youngest Salvatore had let out a breath he felt like he'd been holding forever, slumping back against the wall and trying to control his bloodlust. A Shame? What was a shame? That he wasn't hungry? Or dare he even think it...that he hadn't made a move for Klaus' throat?

That had been hours ago though, and now the house was silent and he stood peering out into the darkness from an upstairs window because he didn't want to have to go down and face the bodies in the loungeroom.

Klaus was in another room, getting the small amount of sleep that his hybrid body needed to function. He should, by all accounts be doing the same. He needed more, obviously, than the older vampire did but tonight his thoughts just wouldn't leave him alone.

He needed to speak with someone. The only person he'd had over the years he could really talk to was Lexi, but she was gone now and she was never coming back. He thought about his earlier meeting with his brother in the woods. He wished, in a moment of clarity, that he had thought to talk with him then. He hadn't the time though, he rationalised. Not there, in the mountains.

His brother would know the answers to his questions. He did after all have far more proven experience in feeding on humans and the effects on vampires. He had been right all along, Stefan thought begrudingly to himself. If only he'd been drinking human blood all these years then maybe he'd be able to control himself now.

He wished more than anything that he could feed from a human, properly feed, without killing them. He knew logically that Klaus would never let him leave a human alive anyway, but still.

He'd thought what he needed was someone to tell him that he was doing the right thing – to assure him that he was good. That wasn't what he needed at all, he concluded, sighing as it began to rain beyond the walls of the house.

What he needed was facts – and he was going to get them. He needed to speak to Damon.

Slowly, he turned, walking silently out into the hall and creeping down the stairs. Grimacing at the bodies he could see, still in the same grotesque condition on the living room floor, he headed to the door.

Twisting the knob silently, he took a step forward onto the porch, towards the thickening sheet of rain before suddenly he was grasped by the arm and hurled backwards into the house, slamming against a picture frame and cracking the drywall, plaster and shattered glass raining down on him.

He was on his feet in seconds, breathing hard only to be thrown back again, into the same wall. "Where do you think you're going?" Klaus hissed in his face. Stefan flinched despite himself.

"Out." He snarled, pushing the hybrid off him, suddenly livid. If he had any doubt that the original's blood held other properties besides the cure for a werewolf bite he was certain of it now. There was no way he would've been able to shove the hybrid off him without it.

He sped towards the still open door, barely making it a foot away before it slammed in his face. A growl ripped from his throat unbidden as he turned to throw a punch at the blonde only to have his arm grasped once again and be pushed backwards into the living room and crash through the coffee table sending glass and wood everywhere.

"What happened to our deal Stefan?" Klaus glowered above him.

He glared at the original before using his enhanced speed to throw himself forward towards him, changing course at the last minute and careening in the direction of the front door. Even with the hybrid's blood running through his veins though he was still no match for the other's speed and strength, encased in alabaster arms before he was even halfway there.

He let out a frustrated snarl, attempting to kick the form behind him, but finding himself immobilised. "Let me go, Klaus!"

"Listen to me very carefully Stefan," he hissed, "you, are not going anywhere."

He struggled again, throwing his head back, attempting to break the other's nose in a last ditch effort, but froze as fangs scraped hard against his throat he'd exposed in doing so. Even as he remained unmoving he fliched as razor sharp nails dug into his skin, one hand on his upper arm, the other crossed over, digging into his hip.

He could smell his own blood and knowing his efforts were futile – unless he wanted his skin ripped to shreds or god forbid, his throat torn out – he sagged back against the other's hold in surrender, hoping he would be released. He could still remember the last time he was in this position.

No such luck. "You're not going anywhere, Stefan." The voice in his ear growled spitefully, "I'm not letting you go."

Stefan stilled.

_It appears you're the only comrade I have left._

The hands holding him in place loosened and he stepped forward out of the original's grasp, turning to face him. They were no longer touching, but close enough to feel each other's body heat and close enough, no doubt that there was no chance of him moving more than a foot away without some serious damage.

He studied Klaus' infuriated face. He'd really made him angry, but Stefan thought, there must be more to this than meets the eye. He seemed...lonely. But that was ridiculous. He hadn't yet figured out why Klaus wanted him yet, but it had to be for something far more sinister than just companionship...didn't it?

Stefan felt the same pang from yesterday in the mountains, rise in his chest. That tugging on his heart that screamed at him to help. To do something. To make the other feel better. He shook his head. "I..."

"Stefan," Klaus said quietly, looking tired, "...get some sleep."

The younger stared for a moment once more before finally taking the out for what it was and fleeing upstairs at vampire speed to the first bedroom he could find. He groaned in the dark, rubbing a hand over his face. What exactly had he gotten himself into?

He tossed onto his side, finally closing his eyes to sleep for the few hours they had left before dawn. His senses may not have been as advanced as an original's but there was no way he missed the tall form that slid silently into the room and stood in the corner, gaze burning into his figure. And when he woke hours later he had no doubt in his mind that those eyes, still on him, had not shifted their attention once through the remainder of the night.

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><p>AN: 3x03 was the best episode _ever_. Here's a question for you, if you could meet Stefan in any era, which would you choose?


	5. V

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>The next day was a Tuesday and Klaus had been watching him like a hawk since the sun rose, though before that too presumably. The hybrid hadn't let him out of his sight all day and it was getting on Stefan's nerves.<p>

Klaus had been making phone calls all morning to people whose voices Stefan hadn't recognized from the last few months. From what little Stefan had managed to garner from the various conversations, Klaus was checking up on someone, someone old – maybe a vampire? Seeing if they were still alive, in the same place? He gathered that whoever it was would be helping the original with his hybrid creation mission-gone-wrong.

He wasn't however going to ask any questions considering the blonde still seemed pretty pissed about last night's incident. Whilst he was on the phone his eyes would still drift over to Stefan every few minutes as if to check that he was still there. The hybrid obviously didn't think his glances were being observed but when Stefan managed to catch one or two he received a piercing glare in return.

Come nightfall the original needed to run an errand, obviously something important since he wasn't about to compel someone to do it for him – even if that meant leaving Stefan unattended.

In the black SUV a compelled vampire had acquired for them, they were en-route to a bar where Klaus claimed Stefan could, 'have a drink' while he was waiting for him.

"I'm not hungry." He muttered, staring out the window.

"Stefan," Klaus said sharply, "you can't lie to me. Besides," he continued, "you haven't eaten anything in what? Twenty-four hours?"

"I'm not lying. I don't feel hungry." He deadpanned, looking at the blonde for only a moment before turning his attention back to the world outside the car. His next words however made the brunette tense.

"Have you ever considered that you have a saving people thing?"

Stefan snorted. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh come _on_ Stefan," the original turned fully to look at him. "You care too much about other people. And you know what I think?" He paused to glare as Stefan rolled his eyes. "I think that's why you stayed in a relationship with the Gilbert girl."

"What? No!" He raised his voice. "I get that you don't understand the concept of feelings," he said scathingly, "but I love Elena."

"Loved." The blonde corrected, amused and Stefan chided himself at the slip.

"Yes," he grated out. "Loved."

"See, I hear you, but I'm not believing you." His tone was predatory and Stefan had no doubt that if they weren't in a vehicle, he would be circling him, like prey. "I believe you _think_ you loved her. But really you just stayed because you knew if you didn't, she would die. Doppelgangers are supernatural magnets, without your protection she would have died a long time ago. You might have felt something for her in the beginning, but subconsciously? That's why you stayed. You have a saving people thing."

Stefan's mouth dropped open. "Seriously? You have got to be kidding me."

"Why so defensive Stefan?"

He heard Katherine's voice ring in his head, '_Always the protector Stefan_'. Why was he even listening to this?

"I'm sure you were friends of course, maybe even best friends..."

"Enough!" Stefan yelled. Why was he doing this? Why did he always have to play with his mind?

"But you had to have realized she would have died eventually. I mean, she would've grown old, you live forever..."

The last thing Stefan needed right now was to be reminded of Elena's mortality. That she would eventually be seventy and he would remain the same. That their relationship was doomed from the beginning, that it could never last.

The car stopped and Stefan pulled the door open almost immediately.

"Stefan," Klaus leaned out the door. "I know I don't have to tell you not to go anywhere."

He nodded darkly at the older vampire before disappearing into the rundown building, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Pulling his phone out as he reached the bar he shook his head. "No signal." He said to himself disbelievingly. Typical.

It's not like he expected Klaus to trust him now he supposed, ordering a scotch from the bartender and settling into the stool he prepared to brood about his latest failed attempt at figuring out what the hell was going on.

Hours later, and three full bottles of scotch that he'd had to compel the bartender to give him, he didn't have even the smallest buzz. He was sick of waiting for Klaus to return, sick of brooding about Elena and sick of being _thirsty_.

It started out as a dull itch in the back of his throat. It was an itch he was used to, an itch he endured often – especially these last few months where feeding on fresh human blood had become a daily occurrence. After another hour had passed however the itch had inflamed to a raging burn. _He was so thirsty._

There were four people in his vicinity. Four occupants of the building in the middle of nowhere. The young male bartender, a middle aged man and two teenage girls who clearly weren't old enough to be patrons of the bar in the first place. He wished, so fervently, that he had of just fed on the couple Klaus had killed the night before. Instantly he felt guilty. Sure they were dead anyway but that didn't mean they deserved their fate over someone else.

He wished for what seemed like the millionth time this week that he hadn't been so caring as a human. He wasn't lying when he told a newly-turned Caroline that a human's base qualities were amplified when they transitioned. Why did he have to be so empathic in 1864? He could've done without these emotions. Sadness, guilt...anger – they were all a nuisance!

Wasn't it funny that it was exactly these things that stopped him from flicking the switch in his mind and turning them off for good.

One of the girls passed by him, barely an arms length away but close enough. Her hair floated back as she strode towards the bar, exposing her neck and all Stefan could hear was a strong pulse, thrumming heavily in her throat.

He was _wrecked_.

But nothing mattered anymore. Only blood.

In seconds his fangs were buried in her throat, through the sweet taste of her blood he barely registered the scream emanating from her friend. And only when her friend dashed for the door and he moved to intercept her did he notice the gore coating his clothes and the fact that his first victim was no longer in one piece.

The realization pulled at his mind for a mere millisecond before he was feeding again, the second girl's terrified heart pumping her racing blood faster out of her veins and into his mouth.

Before he knew it, all the occupants of the bar, including the bartender were dead – strewn across the floor, bodies at odd angles, some not complete. He stared at the carnage from the center of the room, still breathing heavily. _Still hungry._

There was a mirror behind the bar, he could see himself in it – eyes completely blacked over, dark veins protruding and blood, so much blood, covering his face, his clothes, his hands. It had been so long since he'd lost control like this. Feeding on human blood he lost all sense of himself. Lately Klaus had been there to distract him whilst he was feeding, the last couple of times in fact he'd been strangely grateful to remain aware.

Even when he lost control though, he would normally only kill one, maybe two people before his thirst was sated – he figured due to the fact that he was feeding regularly. It had been twenty-four hours since he had last fed, but _four_ people? And he was still hungry.

A frustrated growl ripped from his still-aching throat.

"And here I thought you weren't hungry."

Stefan whipped around at the sound of the hybrid's voice, finding the blonde leaning against the front door of the bar, arms folded across his chest, seemingly appreciating the macabre scene that surrounded him.

Stefan snarled baring bloodied fangs, blackened veins pulsing madly as he stared the original down.

"And still hungry after tearing apart, what four people? Can't really tell what with them in pieces and all." Klaus raised an eyebrow, feigning nonchalance.

The younger vampire knew he was just trying to get a rise out of him, that he should be getting a rise out of him – because normally his own thoughtless act of violence would have bothered him. But the problem was Stefan _was _still hungry and from the moment Klaus had entered the bar all he could think about was how good the hybrid's blood had tasted the day before in the woods.

His eyes honed in on the original's pale neck, mind working a mile-a-minute calculating how many ways he could take the blonde down, sink his fangs into his throat and drain that _exquisite_liquid he remembered so vividly.

Logically, he knew that Klaus could take him down within seconds, logically he knew he would never get anywhere near the other's throat before he had his own torn out. But the hunger had taken over and logic had nothing to do with it.

He felt every muscle in his body coil and release as his legs began to move of their own accord, launching forward at supernatural speed. He collided with the hybrid's taller, solid form, slamming him against the wall. His arms reached around to grip the back of the original's shirt, pulling him closer in an attempt to immobilize him as he sunk his elongated fangs into the blonde's pale throat.

He didn't expect to get this far. He didn't expect to still be breathing. He didn't expect strong arms to curl around him, one hand cradling his head in the hybrid's throat as it was bared to the side, giving him better access. He moaned as his taste buds exploded in ecstasy, a growl reverberating in his chest.

He sucked deep mouthfuls in, pulling forcefully on the artery he'd pierced. He felt the veins begin to recede around his eyes but couldn't bring himself to stop.

"Stefan." Klaus said warningly, voice low.

The ambrosia flooding every inch of his being took precedent over listening to anything at the current time, so Klaus' warning went unheeded.

"Stefan, enough." Klaus said, firmly this time, pulling Stefan away from his throat, smirking at the whimper that escaped the younger vampire.

Stefan flushed red realizing all at once the compromising position he was in – pressed completely up against Klaus who still had one hand tangled in his hair and the other above his hip – and secondly, the shameful sound that had just escaped his lips.

"Better?"

The question caught Stefan off-guard.

"Yes," he croaked out, "thanks." He cleared his throat, still thoroughly embarrassed, pink tinging his cheeks.

"Good, can't have you going all ripper on us at all the wrong times. Don't refuse to eat again." The order was delivered with a pointedly scathing tone that Stefan was far used to by now and he didn't know whether to cringe or breathe a sigh of relief.

Klaus turned and began to walk out without another word, only a glance over his shoulder that Stefan understood as 'follow'.

And just like that Stefan was thrown through a loop. Did Klaus just do something, dare he even think it...caring?

Maybe he wasn't beyond saving after all.

Though if he didn't get himself under control soon, Stefan certainly would be.

It wasn't until he started towards the door that he realized he was hard.

_Fuck_.

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><p>AN: Not sure if I'm happy with this one anymore, but we'll see. What do you think?

I have another question for you guys, favorite original that's been revealed so far and why? :)


	6. VI

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>The next day's drive was certainly more awkward than Stefan had become accustomed to, though Klaus didn't seem to feel the tension. In fact the hybrid seemed to be in a good mood – as good as Stefan had seen from him anyway. It was a blessing he supposed, after the events of the last couple of days he'd thought the original would be uptight for a while yet.<p>

He never thought he'd be more revlieved to finally pull up to their destination. He'd asked the blonde twice where exactly they were headed and never received a straight answer. When he emerged from the vehicle following the older vampire, he didn't expect Chicago. It hadn't crossed his mind that Klaus would know much about his past at all. That he would know things about him that went beyond word of mouth.

When the words "bringing back memories of the good old ripper days," slipped passed the hybrid's lips the youngest Salvatore became even more suspicious. He had been around a long time before Lexi had found him and taken him under her wing. It had seemed fleeting at the time while he reveled in his new found eternal youth but now the same amount of time seemed like an age.

He couldn't imagine what it would be like to be hundreds and hundreds of years old. To an original like Klaus he mustn't seem more than a child. And moreover, Stefan didn't think he wanted to grow that old. To live to that age with most likely only his brother as company? It would be torture.

Sure Damon had come around lately and he had no doubt that Elena and her friends in mystic falls had something to do with that, but his brother had hated him for a long time. They loved each other as only brothers could, but Damon had never wanted to be this. He had made a vow to make Stefan suffer for the rest of his life in return for making him this.

Although they were in a good patch now, the older Salvatore had been stewing on his hatred for years and Stefan had no doubt that it would be a long time coming before things were back to how they used to be before either of them met Katherine Pierce – back when they could trust each other.

Coming out of his thoughts he told Klaus flatly that he didn't remember most of his past. Which was true in a sense. A lot of time was blacked out in his memory from when he had been a 'ripper'. He still often blacked out when he got into a state over human blood, but back then, when he'd been doing it all the time, he'd wake up and not remember days, only bits and pieces of the weeks gone by. Perhaps that's why time passed so quickly back then – because he didn't remember most of it. Now that they were here however Chicago seemed to be a particularly large black hole in his mind.

As Klaus spoke of his past, Stefan's eyes narrowed. Even though Klaus had said "word was," before he started his recounting, the original definitely knew a lot more than one should be able to gather from common word of mouth and Stefan had the feeling there was a lot more to this trip than the other was letting on. He let himself hope, for just a second, that maybe he was about to find out why he was being dragged along with Klaus all over the country.

"Why am I still with you? We had our fun, your hybrids failed...I mean, don't you want to move on?" He should have known nothing with Klaus would ever be that easy. The original evaded the question yet again, changing the subject. Stefan groaned mentally as he followed him to to the car. A witch? Really? Witches _hate_ vampires. As a general rule they aren't that fun to be around and he could only imagine that Klaus had threatened this one for her to be offering any sort of assistance to them.

He did worry though that if she was truthfully going to help the hybrid, that she woud know everything and if she told Klaus, not only was Elena dead but so was he. In fact he was sure he would go first. Klaus would gut him slowly and painfully before heading to Mystic Falls to do it right this time, making sure that _everyone_ died in the process.

He could only imagine how furious Klaus would be to find out he'd been betrayed, to know that Stefan had known all this time exactly why his experiments weren't working and had deliberately withheld that information.

_It appears that you're the only comrade I have left._

His chest clenched painfully with guilt.

Immediately he felt bad. He shouldn't be worrying about how _Klaus_ would feel, or how he'd react in regards to his own life. He should be concerned about Elena and the rest of her human friends – not to mention all the unsuspecting, innocent inahbitants of Mystic Falls who would undoubtedly find themselves in Klaus' way.

The bar they eventually entered was old, a layer of dust seemingly covering everything but Stefan recognised it immediately. He'd been here before. In the twentie's. But how could Klaus have known? How could he have known any of the things he'd been talking about since they arrived in the windy city?

"Looks familiar doesn't it?" Stefan couldn't decide whether Klaus was smirking or smiling at the look of wonder he was sure had crossed his face. He couldn't believe this place was still here and voiced his thought aloud.

He spun around at the sound of another, brows furrowing at the woman moving across the floor toward them. She looked so familiar. Faintly he heard Klaus beginning to crack a joke – definitely in a good mood today – and he turned to look between the two. He was beginning to get sick of the confusion that came along with traveling with the hybrid.

_Gloria_.

His memory came and went in flashes as it always did. He remembered the bar, he remembered Gloria singing on the small stage. And he remembered feeding on a girl in the carpark.

"I remember you." She confirmed his thoughts, smiling a little.

"Yeah, you're Gloria. Shouldn't you be..."

"Old and dead?" She replied. "Now if I die who's going to run this place, huh?"

His head was spinning as she explained how she slowed the aging process. He remembered dancing here on more than one occasion, with more than one pretty girl who'd become his meal after. He remembered drinking with other men in suits night after night, being the cocky ripper douche he was known for at the time. The only thing that didn't fit in was Klaus and how the hell he'd captured the original's attention here.

He couldn't hide his annoyance when Klaus 'suggested' he fix them something from behind the bar. He was sure now that there was definitely something more going on here than Klaus' hybrid scheme. He remembered the blonde saying that Chicago had been fun for Stefan because at the time everything was forbidden. _What had he done? _What did he do that was so bad it drew the attention of the centuries-old vampire long before he'd stumbled upon the doppleganger in Mystic Falls?

Glaring at the hybrid as he was dismissed he stalked over to the bar knowing that with his advanced hearing he would still be able to listen in on their conversation anyway. He began to pour bourbon into a glass from under the counter when he spotted photographs tacked to the back wall. He glanced up curiously and froze. _No_.

Slowly he pulled the picture from the wall, untacking it for a better look. "What is this?" He asked, mind working frantically as he stared at the picture in his hands. Klaus stood and turned to face him, a small smile dancing on his lips.

"I told you Stefan, Chicago's a magical place."

He stared down at the picture and then up again, "This is me...with you."

Klaus simply turned to speak to the age old witch behind him who hadn't risen from her place on the lounge. "We'll be back. I'll get you Rebecca," he said sternly, "but this had better not be a waste of my time." The original then turned on his heel and strode from the bar.

Stefan quickly followed, this was something he wasn't about to let go, not after the last three months.

"This doesn't make any sense, why don't I remember you?"

"You said it youself, that time has a lot of dark holes." Clearly he wanted to play the evasion game again but Stefan wasn't about to let him. This wasn't something you could just change the subject on.

"No, if you knew me why haven't you said anything?"

"Im a little busy right now, memory lane will have to wait." The hybrid didn't even turn to look at him.

Stefan couldn't stop looking at the picture he still carried. How is this possible? They were friends? He knew he had a lot of black spots in his memories but he _knew_ he'd never forget someone like Klaus, no matter when he'd met him.

Angrily, his hand shot out to grab the other's arm, pulling him back to face him. "What is going on? Answer me!"

He tensed as Klaus slowly picked up his hand and pulled it off him. He was lucky he didn't lose the hand completely.

"Let's just say we didn't get off to a brilliant start. To be honest, I hated you."

Now that he could believe. But if he'd pissed off Klaus a mere sixty or so years after his turning then how was he still here? He couln't imagine Klaus had changed much since then, after all it hadn't even been a century and that was nothing to the hybrid so he had to assume he was pretty much the same. So if he had offended him in the twenties, why hadn't he torn him apart then?

It seemed it didn't matter what era they were in he still had the same questions.

He listened reverently as Klaus began to explain only to find himself surprised if not a little disheartened by the answer though he couldn't understand why.

"Your sister? So I knew another original vampire?" He almost scoffed. He didn't know why, but he _knew _that wasn't all there was to it. He glared as Klaus walked away, his scathing remarks just another nail in the coffin that confirmed Stefan's theory. He was changing the subject _again_. Or at least keeping a lot of information to himself.

He watched as Klaus opened one of the stored coffins, shuffling up behind him to look down at the blonde. "I don't recognize her." And he didn't, he was telling the truth. If he really had known the hybrid's sister she musn't of been too important to him because she didn't seem even the least bit familiar.

He couldn't help but try again to pull an explanation, any kind of explanation from the older vampire. While he was never forthcoming with information he was in a congenial mood in general today so Stefan figured maybe if he just kept pushing he might get a little more and a little more until something would kickstart his memory. It had to be there somewhere right?

"Look why don't you just tell me what the hell is going on? You obviously want me here for a reason right?" He was so frustrated! Everything about this was frustrating, the blanks in his memory, everything refusing to add up and most especially Klaus. With his smirk and that annoying sparkle in his eye.

"Well," he smirked, "you have many useful talents." It was the sort of statement you envisioned with a wink attached and Stefan's jaw dropped. "In fact," the hybrid continued, "I learned some of my favourite tricks from you." Stefan could only gape, thanking any god who would listen that he hadn't fed recently enough for the blood to rush to his face because if he was human his cheeks would be scarlet.

It was only when the original smirked at him and delved into a story of the ripper of Monterrey bleeding a man in Gloria's bar, that Stefan realized the hybrid was talking about his grotesque torture methods and not tricks of a different kind.

From what he could remember from the time he was turned through to when Lexi had found him, he was a monster and for the most part he was glad he'd blacked it out. The hints of things he'd done were enough to drive anyone insane. Any human, that is.

So Stefan believed that Klaus might have picked up some barbaric torture ideas from him when he was a 'ripper douche', the rest of his story though – the supposed relationship with Rebecca and a friendship with the hybrid himself – that he was finding difficult to believe. To be honest he doubted Klaus knew what a friend was.

"I was your number one fan." Klaus says sarcastically and Stefan glowers.

"Why should I believe any of this?" He spits at him, annoyed. Watching as the hybrid compels their driver to offer his life to the younger original due to wake any time now.

Taking in his glower, the blonde wasn't happy that Stefan wouldn't take his word for it – in fact he seemed intent on making him believe him, assuring Stefan that as friends they'd shared secrets and that he would prove it to him.

"We're going to your old apartment."

All Stefan could do was follow, wondering how, when and why Klaus had been to his apartment in the twenties and why exactly that didn't bother him as much as it should have.

* * *

><p>Stefan's mind was reeling. He remembered everything, every word, every glance. He had liked Klaus – more than liked him in fact and he didn't know what to make of it. Klaus certainly hadn't been kidding when he said it was a time of prohibition and that, that had been what Stefan enjoyed – doing <em>everything<em> he shouldn't.

It made him glad that Klaus had erased his memories, thankful even because if he hadn't and Stefan had stayed...he wasn't sure how far he would've gone, what he would have become. He definitely wouldn't be who he is today that's for sure. So he was grateful – and that just made it worse, the fact that Klaus in the past had done something seemingly nice? It made it harder for Stefan to think of him as a monster, because as much as he could justify Klaus using a face of kindess to manipulate him now, there was no need for that ninety years in the past.

The fact that they had grown so close in such a short amount of time, what did that say about him? Did he have a choice in believing that Klaus was a better person than he gave him credit for? Because if he didn't then Stefan must be a terrible person and he didn't know if he could withstand any more guilt weighing down his chest.

For a second he thought of how much easier it would be to just tell the original that Elena was alive. To tell the truth and have it all be over. He would live for hundreds of years perhaps, wasn't it better to have the hybrid on his good side than one silly little human?

It would've been so easy, when he'd looked into his hidden liquor cabinet and seen her. When he'd said, "Look what I found," glancing over his shoulder at the blonde behind him. It had been on the tip of his tongue, he could've outed her there and then, gotten it over with. He almost did – and that scared him. He was undecided, at that moment it could have gone either way. He was just lucky – Elena was just lucky – that he made the right call.

He was finding it harder and harder to justify his own actions. He thought constantly about what it would be like to just abandon these suffocating morals and just comply with Klaus, become the monster he was meant to be.

How could he feel this way? What was this darkness inside of him?

He didn't _know_ whether he'd been telling the truth or not when he screamed at Elena, beautiful Elena, yelling that he didn't want to come home. That he didn't want her. It didn't hurt anymore, to be away from her. He didn't _worry_ about her every minute of the day anymore and it was liberating.

He still loved her, there wasn't any way around that. He knew though, in that dark expanse in his chest that there was no debating it – they were over. He couldn't change, he wouldn't be able to stop killing humans again – at least not in her lifetime. It was over.

He screamed, throwing his fist into the wall he was facing, crumbling brick and splitting open skin.

"You've changed." A voice spoke from the doorway and his head shot up taking in the form of the younger original, Rebekah. She was pretty, but he didn't find himself attracted to her. His newly returned memories hadn't really sorted themselves out yet, but from what he'd garnered so far, he hadn't been interested in the twenties either.

His chest heaved. "It's been ninety years." He tried to appear unconcerned but the original was perceptive, too perceptive for his liking. It made him more edgy around her than he already was if possible. He didn't trust her.

"I suppose so." She replied, slowly approaching him, taking his hand in hers. "I could kiss it better?" She shuffled closer, pressing her body up against his.

He immediately stepped back. "That's okay." He tried to keep his glare in check but his sharp tone gave his feelings away.

She huffed, flinging his hand back into his chest and striding towards the door. She stopped however to turn and add, "not everything's changed."

Stefan rolled his eyes, taking the intended bait. "What then?"

"You still look at Niklaus the same way." She smirked, turning back and making a hasty exit.

Stefan stood, mouth agape. "What way?" He muttered to himself, before sliding down the wall he'd damaged to sit on the concrete. He leaned back to let his mind run through it's new memories over again for the third time that hour. "There's no look." He growled quietly, closing his eyes. He now had to start the exhausting task of sorting out not only his memories but the consequential thoughts and feelings that came with them.

Klaus wasn't lying when he said Stefan used to want to be his wingman, though he had understated a little. He'd definitely wanted to be more than just Klaus' wingman. And while with the small amount of time he'd had, he'd only made limited advances – he was sure the hybrid knew exactly what he'd wanted. And it wasn't his sister.

He remembered a particular night when he'd first met Klaus, Rebekah had dragged them together and the hybrid had opened with, "So Stefan, enlighten me. What makes you worthy of an original like my sister? She's pure vampire and you're no more than a diluted bloodline." Their time at the table was as sharp in his memory as if it was yesterday, as was everything else he's suddenly remembered – including the words he'd whispered in the hybrid's ear as he took his leave.

"_It's not your sister I'm interested in_."

He groaned. What had he done?

Another memory came to rest in his mind's eye. He had told Klaus that his family were only jealous of him, that that's why they were trying to kill him. That he was a king. His eyes squeezed closed and his brows furrowed as he immersed himself in re-living the memory.

Feelings rose in his chest. Admiration. He had admired Klaus, in every way. Camraderie. They had been like brothers. Attraction. He had been attracted to Klaus. Something which at the time had been typical of him, exciting even, the forbidden. It now terrified him. He had been attracted to Klaus. He groaned again, wishing, not for the first time that Klaus would come and compel him to forget all over again.

"Look at us," the hybrid had said. "Two sad orphans. My sister fancies you, you know," he'd began. "But... I should warn you, Rebekah doesn't do anything half-speed, and that includes falling in love. So just be careful. She's totally mad." While now he would assume the original was being the protective older brother, at the time Stefan's memories were telling him he'd detected a tone of jealousy. But that was impossible.

"And when the point comes where she inevitably leaves you..." He continued, "she can't help it, it's just who she is. Don't let your heart do anything stupid." At the time it had amused Stefan, though he liked to play games he had no intention of actually persuing Rebekah. In the past he had taken it as a positive sign. In the past he was an idiot.

Stefan knew though that if anything, Klaus hated sharing. He was possessive over everything and that would include friends – if he thought he had indeed made one. He definitely didn't enjoy losing anything, especially not to his family.

He was glad the hybrid had left 'on business' after reinstating his memories because honestly, he didn't know what he'd do if the older vampire were here. Stefan rose to his feet with a sneer, he needed to hunt. And more than anything? He needed to get out of this damn city.

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><p>AN: Longest chapter! Can I just say our OTP/fandom in general is full of the best kind of people? 43 reviews, 26 favourites and 25 alerts. And everyone gives actual, detailed feedback – you guys are _the_ best. Keep up the good work friends!

Question of the day, do you think Klaus actually knows Stefan's been lying the entire time? I mean c'mon, how could he not hear/sense Elena in the secret cupboard? Or any other time she's been close and been screaming, etc? Food for thought.


	7. VII

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>It was well past the witching hour and Stefan was again sitting against the wall where Rebekah had found him earlier. In fact he'd only vacated the spot briefly to make a snack out of some young teenagers a few streets over.<p>

The boys were the punky type, the sort of people you'd immediately label vagrants, with piercings everywhere that made Stefan wrinkle his nose with distaste. He'd lived through many eras with many outrageous fads but he would never understand the fascination humans had with stretching out gaping holes in their ears.

He'd returned to his wall pretty quickly in any case, sliding down the dusty bricks to continue contemplating his returned memories. He was a different person now than he had been ninety years ago so it shouldn't be surprising that he was finding it difficult to reconcile his previous actions with himself as he was now.

A lot of things he just couldn't imagine himself doing. On the other hand though the past few weeks were beginning to make a lot more sense. There were actions, feelings, things that had baffed him which had now suddenly become clear. It was like seeing their recent interactions with a new hindsight. His and Klaus' that is.

It definitely explained why Klaus wanted him to tag along. They had truly been friends, connected on a level that the hybrid apparently hadn't been able to find with another after he had erased the younger Salvatore's memories and there was something to be said for that.

But who was he kidding? Sure he was different now when compared to ninety years ago, but he was also a different man today than he was yesterday. Not mere hours ago he'd stood here in this same spot and been irrevocably changed.

"I remember you," he'd said to the blonde hybrid, the cause of all this. "We were friends." It had been strange, a mind-blowing shock to his system that really shouldn't have been all that surprising considering their interaction in the last month they'd travelled together.

The original had seemingly read his thoughts. "We _are_ friends." The blatant way he'd said it – as a statement of fact had sent Stefan reeling. It was an idea he'd never considered, a possibility he'd never allowed himself to give words. But now, on the warehouse floor, head cradled in his hands the youngest Salvatore allowed himself to wonder. To think. About what could have been – what could be if he allowed himself to slip.

"Enjoying your trip down memory lane Stefan?" He was startled by the voice of the very vampire that was plaguing his thoughts. He hadn't even heard him approach.

He raised his eyes cautiously, afraid of what he'd find, as if he'd see something else new and unusual that his overworked mind couldn't process. "I don't know." His voice came out low, raw with emotion and he flinched.

"Pesky things aren't they, memories? Thoughts...emotions..."

Stefan snarled at the smirking original. "Fuck off Klaus." He glared steadfastly, refusing to move from his slump against the wall.

The hybrid's smirk only widened in amusement. "Ooh, language Stefan!" He seemed positively gleeful at the younger vampire's state of dismay. In fact, Stefan mused, this was the happiest he'd been all summer.

Seeing the blonde wasn't going to do him a favour by leaving any time soon, Stefan stood to leave, shoving the original's shoulder as he passed. He felt like a ticking time-bomb and imagined if he were a cartoon he'd probably have steam pouring from his ears.

"Oh, come _on_ Stefan, don't be such a petulant child."

He ground to a halt at the thrown insult and turned, seething. "_What_?"

"You were the one who wanted to know Stefan. You weren't prepared to let it go but now you're sulking because you don't like the hand you dealt yourself."

"Says the guy who knew all along!" He exploded exasperatedly. "How do you think you'd feel if someone told you that a hundred years ago you'd done something so incredibly _stupid_?" He knew it was a mistake as soon as the words left his mouth but it wasn't as if he could take them back.

The hybrid's face turned cold in an instant. "You're lucky you're still useful to me." He hissed. "Anyone else would be dead already."

"Well we all know I'm a special case," he snarked, all the while knowing he should really just shut his mouth. In seconds he was thrown back against the wall, held up by a hand to the throat and wheezing as he was strangled.

"It would be so easy," the original growled, "for me to just snap you in half." He pushed forward, smashing the brunette's head further into the wall. "I could kill you in seconds, _Stefan, _so watch your mouth." The older vampire enunciated before releasing his iron grip.

As he was dropped from the wall he coughed before rasping out, "you won't kill me, you like the taste of me too much," in a tone reminiscent of the cocky ripper douche from the nineteen twenties.

The original raised an eyebrow stepping close enough that they were touching. "Careful Stefan," he murmured, "that almost sounded like an invitation."

The younger vampire refused to back down and dark eyes met azure. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours?" He smirked.

The devious sparkle returned to Klaus' eyes. Slowly, the original raised his wrist to his mouth, sliding it along an elongated fang. Stefan groaned silently at the pooling red substance. _What was he doing?_ He struggled to keep his thoughts clear as his fangs clicked down and he felt the veins pulsing around his eyes.

Every muscle in his body tensed and he stared at the the red rivulets running off pale white skin. Klaus raised an eyebrow at him as the wound sealed up and he remained unmoving. The original opened his mouth to comment but was cut off when Stefan batted his hand out of the way, pulling him closer by the shirt and lowering his mouth to the hybrid's throat.

He moved, open mouthed down the blonde's neck, tongue lazily dragging along sensitive skin before he found the vein he wanted and bit down hard. It was as exquisite as he remembered it being and he moaned at the taste, hazy mind registering that he wasn't the only one making a noise.

He sucked lazily, dragging out the ambrosia as tenderly as he could, trying to make it last longer on his tastebuds. It was so much better than any human he'd fed on, he knew it wouldn't be difficult to make a habit out of this.

He didn't have to be forcefully stopped this time, though he wasn't sure the pliant vampire he'd pulled against him would have been in any mind to do so anyway. He pulled away slowly nipping at the skin as the puncture wounds closed.

He'd pulled back for barely a second before he felt the hybrid's fangs slide into his own throat and his head lolled back. He groaned again. "Klaus..." His hand had just ran up to tug on blonde locks when there was a gasp at the door. His eyes shot open.

"Niklaus!"

The hybrid groaned, pulling away reluctantly. "Rebekah..."

The female original looked beyond angry, in fact she looked furious. Her glare skipped over Stefan completely locking straight onto her brother. "What are you _doing_?" She growled.

The hybrid looked a little guilty for a second but in a flash it was gone. "Rebekah dearest," he tried to begin but she only sent him an accusatory glare before spinning on her heel and storming out of the room loudly.

"Great," the original groaned sarcastically before turning to look at Stefan, as if the entire thing was his fault.

"What?" He glared, previously content mood vanishing, becoming uptight once again. The hybrid rolled his eyes at him before turning to follow after his sister.

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><p>Stefan didn't trust Rebecca. And it wasn't just because she was Klaus' sister, or that she kept coming onto him – however annoying that may be. It wasn't because she'd gotten her knickers in a twist the previous night either, there was just something else about her. Something...different. She was definitely hiding something.<p>

The consequences of course of her little fit the night before were that she dragged them to what seemed to be an endless line of botiques and stores throughout downtown Chicago, barely ever purchasing anything.

It seemed to Stefan that her older brother was humoring her, most likely because he thought of her as his only connection to the necklace he still needed to acquire. The younger vampire shook the thoughts from his head quickly. He didn't want to think about the necklace because it only made guilt clench in the pit of his stomach.

"There has to be more to this dress." The more irritating of the original's called from the fitting room of their current upmarket clothing store and Stefan mentally groaned just as Klaus replied in the negative. For a vampire who was hundreds of years old she sure had a lot of trouble adapting to modern culture.

He looked across to study Klaus. The blonde hybrid was lounging in a chair beside him, champagne in one hand and looking just as bored as Stefan felt. Things had been fairly congenial between them this morning, Rebekah's outburst obviously having either been sorted out or insignificant to the hybrid altogether. Stefan was leaning towards the latter.

He closed his eyes and ran a hand across his face as Rebekah continued to gripe about the clothes before moving onto the music. Couldn't she just accept that she was ninety years in the future and go with it? He was fairly certain that if she didn't shut up he was going to have to beg Klaus to put the dagger back in. Though by the looks of things he wouldn't need to do too much convincing.

He tried to look hospitable when she turned her full attention towards him. "So? What do you think?"

He looked at the dress she was wearing, it was the same as all the other 'too short', 'too black', 'too plain' dresses she'd already tried on today. "I like it." He said, going for a smile but winding up with what he guessed was probably more of a grimace.

"What? I said I liked it!" He rebuked when she glared at him.

"I can always tell when you're lying Stefan." She snipped at him before whirling back to the dressing room in a huff. Stefan gaped in exasperation. Why did she have to make everything so difficult. So he didn't like her, so what? He was extremely sorry that he was naïve enough ninety years ago to lead her on even the slightest bit because it was coming back to bite him in the ass now.

"Nice one, good work." Klaus huffed beside him and Stefan turned to look at the original he actually liked at the moment.

"You're the one that pulled the dagger out of her." He snarked defensively and Klaus' lips tilted upward at him.

He groaned aloud as he heard Rebekah still snipping at him from the dressing room and got up to head to the door, telling Klaus he was going out for some fresh air. He faltered at the door when he saw Elena across the street on the sidewalk. He'd told her to stay _away_. He'd thought for sure that she would get the message when he'd screamed at her. He realised his error however when her lips curled into a smirk and she tweaked a finger at him in the universal signal for follow. _Katherine_.

He pushed his way out of the shop and darted across the street. What was she doing here? He kept looking over his shoulder as he went to make sure that the original siblings weren't following him, slightly paranoid with the undead doppleganger's reappearance.

The first words out of her mouth were, "you two look chummy, Klaus your new bestie?"

He shouldn't have been so surprised, after all, Katherine always could see right through him. He put on his best poker face though and glared.

"You know," he drawled, "if he finds out you're in Chicago you're dead."

He dropped his smirk however when she brought up the necklace. She must have been trailing them for a while to have this amount of information. It was amazing Klaus hadn't picked up on it. Then again, she's the most experienced there is when it comes to evading Klaus, she's done it for hundreds of years already.

He tried to keep his emotions in check, hopefully convincing her that he had a plan and it was all under control. He figured she was probably in contact with Damon. She couldn't stay away from the promise of a diabolical plan and a diabolical Katherine always has to have a partner in crime.

He can't have done too well convincing her though since she was still mocking him. "Don't get too cocky. Klaus is smarter than you, he's smarter than everyone. And I've heard about that sister. Be careful, she'll ruin you."

He snorted. "Happy to know you still care but she won't be an issue." He turned to walk away not willing to give her anymore information and no longer wanting to play her game.

"Oh I forgot," she called after him, "it's not the sister that you're interested in." He could hear the smirk in her voice but didn't bother to turn around, he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of thinking she had rattled him.

He rolled her last sentence over and over in his mind as he traversed the streets of Chicago, making his way back towards Gloria's bar where he knew the others would be. Is it possible that she knows more than she should? Does she simply mean as she had said earlier, that he and Klaus seem to be 'best friends'? Or does she know about the twenties? About how Stefan felt back then? He knew now that she hadn't been in the tomb at the time, is it possible that she followed the stories of the ripper of Monterrey and was in Chicago then herself? He hadn't exactly made his advances a secret back then – he'd liked being the rebel, acting as one didn't act in public in those times.

You never knew with Katherine and he was none the wiser by the time he finally caught up with the siblings and the old witch Gloria in her dusty, aging bar. He grew increasingly worried as he saw they were searching for the necklace and seemed to be having some amount of success if the witch's words were to be believed. He secretly crossed his fingers that something, anything would screw up and break the connection. He sighed silently in relief as Gloria informed Klaus that she needed more time.

The hybrid was already on edge as it was though and didn't look happy at all. He had, Stefan supposed, already waited a thousand years to break the curse only for it to screw up afterwards. Of course, Stefan himself was pretty sure he knew why, but he wasn't ever going to mention it. As Klaus got increasingly agitated with the witch he knew he'd have to get him out of the bar, not so that she could have a better go at the spell but so that he could get himself out of danger of being found out.

Something told him Gloria knew more than she was letting on. He figured he'd get Klaus out of here, Rebekah would soon follow, then he'd come back later on his own and try and convince the witch not to part with any information she had or would soon gather. Little did he know at the time exactly how much of a bad idea that was.

He got up and moved over to Klaus's chair, wondering how he was going to convince the hybrid to do something he obviously didn't want to. He placed a hand on his arm and leaned down to his ear. "Hey, you know, why don't we just come back later?" He said soothingly. He felt the blonde's tense muscles relax slightly and fought the urge to turn his head and place a soft kiss on the hybrid's neck. _Why would he do that?_ He shook it off.

"I'm hungry anyway. I'll let you pick who we eat?" He coaxed. Stefan grinned in success as the original sighed and stood. He turned and lead the way out the door of the bar they'd been spending so much time in, the cogs in his head already turning, planning out his next visit.

He couldn't have known it would go this badly he later told himself as he was strapped down to the makeshift alter, paralysed, frustrated and maybe a little scared. He'd never before lost control of his own body and muscles. Every piece of him was screaming at him to move, to pull, to tug, to escape. He couldn't choose a fight or flight instinct, his body just wanted him to do _something_ and would be happy with either one.

His heart was beating at a hundred mile a minute as the witch begins to talk about her spell and her ingredients, herbs and other things, it speeds up even more if that's possible when she utters the v word. _Vervain_. She pushes her hands down onto his chest and as the essence makes contact with his skin he _screams_.

It takes two rounds before his throat's raw. She's talking about Elena, but he doesn't know what exactly she's saying. He couldn't keep her out of his mind anymore if he tried. He can't concentrate, can't think. All he knows is it hurts too much and he just wants it to stop. Mortifyingly a name tears it's way out of his throat._ Klaus_.

Gloria laughs a little at that and he's barely a second away from sobbing. It burns so hot, like fire and he thinks he might just die if it doesn't stop. He knows there's no one to help him. He'd left the other original's after an argument and there's no way they'd begin to look for him for hours yet. Klaus knows his temper, he's in a congenial mood today, he'd give him time to cool off which on any other day Stefan would have appreciated.

Rebekah was being her usual self, taking offense to everything they said and did which for a while was amusing until she'd turned to Stefan and asked, "and why are you being so mean? You used to love me."

He was too shocked to even try and set her straight only gaping as Klaus' jumped to his defense, "it's been ninety years Rebekah, give him a minute." He didn't know what to be more surprised about, that she actually seemed to believe he had loved her or that Klaus was defending him.

"Oh, you would say that." She spat spitefully at her brother who only raised an eyebrow calmy. "You take everything Klaus, you always did! Everything I wanted you've taken from me, first my family and now this?" She had gone from spiteful to truly angry and Stefan had become a little concerned. He wasn't sure he wanted to see the two original's go at it, though he knew who would win.

"Stop being a brat. " The hybrid said simply, standing up.

"I am _not_ a brat." Rebekah hissed and Stefan stood quickly wanting to diffuse the situation before it escalated and also giving himself a chance to make his exit.

He turned to Klaus, sending what he hoped was an apologetic look before saying, "well you're no picnic either, I mean, I've only spent one summer with you and I feel like I want to blow my head off." He heard Rebekah laughing as he walked out and unknowingy sealed his own fate as he made sure neither of the two would go after him for a while, Rebekah being angry at Klaus and Klaus perhaps irritated with him.

How unfortunate that he now found himself in a situation where he needed saving from a powerful witch. Well that's karma for you isn't it.

"This is creepy." A third voice says suddenly and the pain stops, Gloria falling forward, dead and Katherine standing behind her. She turns to him, "you and Klaus must be close if you're screaming for him to save you." She smirks and he thinks if he had the energy he'd probably blush with mortification.

He doesn't want to thank her because to be honest she doesn't deserve it. One good deed doesn't make up for a lifetime of wickedness, isn't that how it goes? Though that would apply to them all then he supposed. It startles him when she states apbruptly that she's realised his master plan.

"At first," she begins, "I thought you were going to go for the sister because let's be honest, Klaus will never fully trust you. I figured you were going to bond with Klaus but play hard to get with the sister – make her want you more. But then I realised that she's already pathetically head over heels for you and the only one you're interested in is Klaus himself." She smirked.

He groaned, "Katherine," he began only to be cut off.

"So," she spoke over him loudly, "then I thought back on the way you two act around each other and I actually think we might have a winner. I think you might actually be able to get him to trust you enough for an opportunity to stab him in the back."

"Well thanks for your vote of confidence," he said sarcastically. "Duly noted."

"Uh uh. I'm not done." She waved a finger at him. "While I think you could get him to trust you enough... I don't think you could do it. I don't think you'd actually be able to kill him, because you have feelings for him. You have feelings for Klaus." She finished triumphantly and Stefan debated whether there was any way he could convince her she was wrong.

He thought back to that day in the mountain range in Tennessee. That was the day that he first realised he had any sort of feeling in him for Klaus. He didn't know at the time however just what he was getting himself into or he might have tried to run then.

"So," Katherine said with a smirk. "I'm guessing you're not going to be my diabolocal partner in crime?"

He didn't need to say anything. He was fresh out of snark for the day and she already knew the answer to that question.

Stefan turned and walked away, heading back to the warehouse.

Back to Klaus.

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><p>AN: There's a new ep tomorrow! :D Maybe our questions will finally be answered! Here's a question for you though, Katherine or Elena, who do you like better?


	8. VIII

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>Stefan knew as soon as Rebekah approached him that something was off. He didn't trust her obviously, he never had, well since she'd been awakened this century anyway. He figured she would just go straight on the offensive considering how she'd acted the previous day and he worried for a second that if she attacked him physically he would fall.<p>

It only took him a second to shake the notion though. On a normal day she'd have no problem disposing of him but today he had hybrid blood in his system. He felt better, he moved faster, he hit harder. He was stronger than ever physically and mentally and he knew that today – he could take her.

Still, it didn't hurt to remain cautious. Warily, he watched her approach until she was standing right in front of him.

"You're back, finally. Nik went to check on the witch." Stefan tried not to show any sort of reaction, the younger of the original's was too perceptive and even one little slip up could have a ripple of consequences that he was not prepared to face.

"Dreary, isn't it? The family cargo."

Stefan's eyes narrowed. Why exactly was she making conversation with him? She couldn't possibly _still_ be enamored with him? He wasn't playing hard to get, his overall opinion of her wasn't high at all, in fact he honestly thought she was a tiresome brat.

He took the bait anyway. If she was still grudgingly attempting to make him feel something for her then maybe he could get some useful information out of it.

"Why don't you undagger them?" He asked her curiously, an truthful question. If she missed her family that much what was to stop her from pulling the knives from all their chests? Surely united they would make a strong enough front against Klaus?

"Because he would hunt me down and kill me. He's a vindictive little bastard, my brother." She replied with seeming indifference and Stefan fought the sudden need to retort with his personal opinion on herself. No need to make her angry when she was in a talkative mood. Hopefully he could use it to his advantage.

"But you still care about him," he prodded. "Why?" He tilted his head, intending to study her reaction closely. He was taken aback when she turned to smirk at him.

"Why do you?" She threw back at him and his mouth formed a tight line. He was saved from answering however when she continued without pause. "Well I hated him for a long time – it was exhausting," she commented flippantly, moving around the room slowly as if bored, twirling her hair for effect. Stefan was ninety percent sure it was all for show.

She moved to sit down on a coffin and deciding to push a little harder he quickly sat next to her. "You know, when I met you two you were both on the run." He started slowly, leaving the ending open for her to take up. Unfortunately she wasn't as gullible at taking the bait as he was.

"Also exhausting." She said flatly, unwilling to offer more. He wasn't however about to give up. He needed more answers. His mind was already a half-filled puzzle and he knew if he was going to survive however long this saga was going to take he'd need leverage. Major leverage.

"Who were you running from?" He said quietly.

"What do you mean?" She answered and Stefan knew better than to believe the innocent look she gave. He resisted the urge to snarl at her and just demand outright for he knew it would have no effect. He needed to take a gentler approach with Rebekah, she was too bitchy to respond well to violence.

"Last night I saw you," he began, trying to seem worried, compassionate, "there was a man looking for you. You both seemed afraid. I just...I wouldn't think Klaus would be afraid of anybody."

She studied him silently and he knew she was assessing his intentions with the direction their conversation was leading. "No one in this world is truly fearless Stefan, not even Niklaus."

Of course she didn't have to tell him that. He knew that Klaus was capable of emotion, that was what had started this whole rollercoaster ride in the first place wasn't it? His heightened capability for compassion, his need to bring out the best in people, to see the best in people no matter who they were or what they'd done.

Sometimes he really hated himself for that.

"Who was that man?" He pushed in a final ditch attempt to succeed in his interrogation.

"I can't, please..." She stood from her place next to him and started to pace, seeming sad but also frantic. "If Nik knew we were talking about this he would..."

He cut her off, "No, no, no. I'm sorry." He got up to stand in front of her in an attempt to calm her down. The last thing he needed was an alarmed original on his hands. "Just forget I asked okay?" He tries to placate her knowing it's his only option lest she panic and run to Klaus.

"He told me about the girl you loved," she turned to speak quietly, "the one that died? He also told me that you're only with him because he saved your brother..."

Stefan groaned inwardly. He was pretty sure that she had assumed that he had no loyalty to Klaus and therefore was fair game. "It's true." He muttered reluctantly, hoping this wasn't leading where he thought it was.

"I think he secretly admires that about you, that you'd sacrifice anything for family." She said wistfully, probably thinking of her own family that surrounded them. "Don't tell him I told you that." She added quickly and Stefan couldn't help but feel like he was Hansel, being buttered up so she could eat him for dinner. He swallowed his snort, she probably was...hoping to eat him that is.

Unfortunately he was spot on with both his last assumption and her intentions regarding the whole conversation. She quickly moved forward, leaning up to attach her lips to his. He kissed her back slowly, hoping that she would buy his affection. He needed her to believe him.

She pulled away. "Do you think you'll ever love anyone like you loved that girl?" She asked and his hopes plummeted. She definitely didn't believe him. Which he supposed he had to expect considering the circumstances of the last few days.

"One day maybe." He replied and unconsciously his mind drifted to a different blonde original before he could stop it. No. He didn't want the hybrid like that. His blood was intensely satisfying and that's all. It wasn't so much the fact that he other vampire was a man, he'd been pretty exploratory in his hundred and fifty years. And he'd already admitted to himself that yes, in the twenties he had wanted the blonde, lusted after him. But that was then, and this is now. They were both different people.

As much as he fought for some reason his inner voice didn't ring true and it frustrated him to no end. How could he not know himself?

His stomach dropped as he saw Rebekah's face in front of him drop to an icy degree. He knew he'd been played. There was no doubt in his mind now that she'd been manipulating him the entire time.

"I can always tell when you're lying Stefan." She said coldly and his mind raced to find words as he decided to try one last ditch attempt to save face.

"What? I'm not..."

She cut him off, snarking, "don't bother, your kiss already gave you away." The deadly look on her face made Stefan panic. Sure he thought he could take her, but what if he was wrong? He could really end up dead here – permanently. Now would be a really good time for Klaus to return, angry or not, Stefan would rather take his chances with him.

No such luck, though he was relieved to find Rebekah continued talking. "You know I really thought that maybe since you hadn't chosen to be here that perhaps you hadn't _chosen_ to let him feed from you either." The disgusted look on her face just screamed jealousy and Stefan fought the urge to smirk. Though his plans were ruined she was definitely proving his assumed image of her correct – she was a spoiled brat.

"So?" He asked simply. So they shared blood, why was it such a big deal? He got that it could be intimate because they way it made you feel was amazing. The endorphin rush was so strong he nearly lost himself in it. Of course he hadn't shared blood with a vampire before now to know this but he really couldn't see why it was such a big deal. Two willing parties and both end up satisfied, consider it like a one night stand of sorts – it was great but it didn't have to mean anything.

She shook her head in disbelief. "You really don't get it do you?" She laughed at his arrogant expression. "Sometimes I forget how young you are Stefan."

He snarled at the mention of his age. He knew they eclipsed him ten times over but he wasn't a child. "What?" He ground out, wishing she would just drop whatever bombshell she was sitting on already.

She looked almost gleeful as she replied. "It's an act of ownership. Possession. You're letting him feed from you, it's basically another way of saying you belong to him."

He refused to let his eyes widen. He didn't want her to see his surprise. He was getting steadily better at hiding his emotions from her and he thought as long as she didn't try anything untoward (like say, kissing him again) then he should be able to manage it.

He tried to play it off like it wasn't a big deal. "So? Tell me something I don't know."

She raised an eyebrow, "so you're fine with belonging to him? The Stefan I remember would never have stood for being objectified."

He smirked, ignoring her retort. "So by your logic when Klaus lets me feed from him, he belongs to me?"

She snorted, "There's no way in hell Klaus would ever let you feed from him." Interesting. He knew she hadn't seen him drink from Klaus the night before, but he had thought she might have suspected. Apparently not.

"Besides," she went on, "even if he did, I doubt that it would matter to him. Do you really think Niklaus is the type to belong to anyone?" Her eyebrow still raised. He shrugged conceding her point.

At least her little stunt of manipulation wasn't a total waste. He'd gathered a little information about Klaus at least, and he supposed these old, unspoken vampire 'rules'. That is of course if she wasn't just making the whole thing up to screw with his head, he wouldn't put it past her.

At that moment their topic of conversation walked through the door and they both spun to face him, unable to keep from looking at least a little guilty.

"What's going on?" The hybrid asked suspiciously.

Though he was looking between the two, Stefan was still trying to think of something to say so Rebekah beat him to the punch. "Something's wrong. He was asking about Michael. He's not with us Nik, I can sense it."

Stefan's heart leapt into his throat and his felt horror churning in his gut as Klaus spun to stare at him darkly. _No._ Not this soon.

"She's wrong!" He cried sharply, moving to come before the hybrid. "Klaus..." He stared up at him, trying to convey something, anything through his eyes, anything that would stop the blonde from tearing his throat out.

"You know I wouldn't betray you." He said lowly, reaching out to touch his knit-covered shoulder softly. The original was searching his eyes, body tense and Stefan felt his hope disappear. "She's only saying that because she resents me." He tried."You know that."

The older vampire finally spoke. "As much as I know that's true Stefan, you've been keeping things from me. Too many things." He took in Stefan's distressed look before stepping back, "come on, Stefan. What, you thought I wouldn't notice? I've been around a long time mate. I've known you've been hiding something since that day in the woods in Tennessee."

Stefan felt guilt churn in his stomach. In the same way he just _knew_ he couldn't have said anything he couldn't shake the feeling that he really should have. He could have gone back and retrieved the necklace, he figured. Really, it couldn't have been that important and Klaus didn't have to know he'd gotten it from Elena – he wouldn't even think of that, she was, as far as he knew, very much dead. Or had he figured it out? Had he heard her that day in the woods and known all along? Or in his apartment? There had been so many close calls...maybe they hadn't been as lucky as he thought.

He wasn't sure what Klaus did and didn't know anymore.

"Yes Stefan." He spoke again and Stefan couldn't help but indulge in the very human habit of biting his lower lip. "I know it all," the original clasped his hands together. "And so I'm sure you'll understand that I'm really not sorry when I do this."

Even with the hybrid's blood running through his veins he didn't see the attack coming, there was nothing he could do but let his eyes widen in surprise as he felt strong hands encircle his neck and _snap_. And then he knew nothing.

* * *

><p>When Stefan awoke he felt the pain in his spine first. He scrambled to remember as he forced his eyes open. The first thing he saw was baby blues. <em>Klaus<em>. Klaus had snapped his neck.

Stefan groaned, rolling upright and attempting to stand. He looked at Klaus' stony expression across the dark, enclosed area. "Just give me a chance to explain myself, okay?" He hated that he felt even a little bit desperate. He didn't need the hybrid's approval, he had no obligation whatsoever to share what he knew with him – he shouldn't feel bad. But he couldn't help himself.

He scrambled forward, "Klaus..." he looked forward with what he hoped were the patented Caroline Forbes doe eyes.

The older vampire dropped the cold look but remained indifferent. "I'm not mad." He stated finally, "just curious." And Stefan wished so terribly that he could believe him. "Rebekah seems to think you're holding onto something – a piece of your old life."

Stefan was about to protest about how biased Rebekah's opinion on any relationship of his was when Klaus cut him off, waving a hand seeming to read his thoughts exactly. "The thing is, she's got flawless instincts, borderline supernatural." The original ignored the brunette's spitefully muttered 'tell me about it'.

"And if we're all being honest here as much as I didn't want it to come to this, I knew you were keeping something from me anyway. I was _hoping_ you'd own up to it eventually," he glared, "but now I'm sick of waiting, so I thought I'd check it out – see for myself what you've been hiding."

With that the blonde moved to yank upwards on what Stefan could make out to be a roller door. Sunlight instantly filtered in and he flinched, having to wait a moment for his pupils to adjust to the sudden change. When he could see properly however he realised he was in the back of a truck and he definitely recognised the street before him.

"Welcome back to Mystic Falls Stefan." The hybrid smirked at him and he barely had time to open his mouth before he felt his neck snap all over again.

Stefan didn't wake for hours and when he finally opened his eyes again it was dark. He felt the now familiar twinge in the top of his spine that informed him that yes, Klaus had snapped his neck yet again. He was really growing irritated with the hybrid's chosen method of incapacitation.

He found himself annoyingly disappointed with the lack of baby blues this time and the presence of his least favourite original sibling.

"Ahh he lives," she murmured from the open door of the truck and he groaned, rising to his feet.

"What happened?" He asked, although he already knew the answer.

His suspicions were only confirmed when she replied, "you took a beating, my brother's been breaking your neck all afternoon. Quite the temper" She seemed to take some kind of sadistic glee from that and he couldn't help but glare at her darkly. He really wished he had a white oak dagger right about now, he didn't care if he ended up dead as well, as long as she was gone he would be happy.

He decided to throw himself out there and ask her why exactly they were in Mystic Falls, though he already knew the answer, perhaps she would have a different one to her brother.

"You can stop playing dumb now, didn't take him long to figure out what you've been hiding." He imagined if he was human his face would have lost all colour. Even if he'd given up on his relationship with Elena and he needed more time to sort himself out altogether, he did still love her and there was no way he could just stand by and let her die.

"I'm not hiding anything," he tried to play dumb. "I've done everything Klaus has asked me to."

She smirked at him then, "Oh, I have no doubt about that." While she then dropped her smile her snarky tone remained as she finished, "you just forgot to mention that the doppleganger was still alive." And with that Stefan knew he had to move.

He threw himself at her.

"Where is she?" He hissed, grappling with the blonde.

"You really do love her don't you?" She seemed surprised at first before she snarled, "consider me jealous." And drove a metal rod through his stomach. Stefan groaned, knowing that if she had of attacked him even a little bit later he might have passed out once again, but he was still high on Klaus' blood and he rose slowly to his feet, tearing the metal from his chest with a scream.

Her eyes widened, "it's not possible." She didn't so much as have time to blink before Stefan had slammed her own weapon into her head and as she went down he impaled her straight through the heart. She may have been an original but she wasn't a hybrid like her brother. It wouldn't give him much time he knew, but he could definitely reach Klaus and by extension Elena far before she woke.

He wasn't surprised to find them at the school. After all, didn't everything bad happen at Mystic Falls High? It was like Sunnydale High, a centre for evil and danger and Stefan snorted to himself at his ridiculous thoughts – the world he lived in was much more dangerous than any tv show could ever dream to be.

As he opened the door to the gymnasium he saw Elena first, kneeling with two other teenagers. She whispered his name and his head shot from her to the other side of the room where Klaus was sitting looking relaxed as ever in the bleachers.

"Klaus." He muttered, taking a few steps forward but stopping only a short distance from the door. He didn't know how Klaus would react now, now that he knew what Stefan had been hiding all this time. That Stefan had _known_ exactly why his hybrid experiments weren't working and hadn't said a damn thing about it.

"Come to save your damsel?" The blonde asked sarcastically, before looking up at him fully. "Where's my sister?"

Elena's head shot up at that, not having known yet that another original had been awakened.

Stefan smirked, "she's a little...incapacitated at the moment." He didn't even feel a little bit bad that he'd stabbed the hybrid's younger sister – she was a pain in the ass. Klaus seemed to think so too because he smirked back apparently pleased with him, if only for a moment.

"Sometimes I think I underestimate you Stefan," he said and the younger vampire raised his chin cockily. Then Klaus continued, "but then I remember the stupid things you do like _this_." He finished, pointing to Elena spitefully.

Stefan raised an eyebrow before moving forward a few more steps. "I came to ask for your forgiveness," that much at least was honest. He for some reason felt terrible about lying to the hybrid all this time, even if Klaus had never fully trusted him. He felt like he had to apologise, to alleviate the guilt that was clenching his chest together tightly.

"...and to pledge my loyalty." That one not so much. He was never going to be Klaus' lap dog and the older vampire knew it, but Stefan figured he may as well lay it on thick while he was going.

He moved up to the blonde, sitting on the bleacher next to him before placing a hand on his knee. "Come on Klaus..." He should have known that he wouldn't get anywhere, though it was worth a try. The original brushed his hand off harshly, refusing to look at him as he muttered, "well you broke that pledge once already."

"Elena means nothing to me anymore." Stefan tried. If (annoying as she was) Rebekah had been right and Klaus really saw Stefan as a possession then maybe he was ...jealous? After all the hybrid wouldn't be one to share. He mentally tossed the thought though. There was no way Klaus would be jealous, he just wasn't made for it. More likely he was just pissed as hell that Elena, the doppelganger, was still alive and thwarting his plans.

Stefan leaned in to whisper in the blonde's ear, having to truly fight his instincts to let his fangs down and feed from the hybrid's throat. "Whatever you ask of me, I will do," he breathed.

"Fair enough." Klaus stood abruptly. "Let's drink on it." He stated, moving with a sudden spring in his step Stefan knew was fake. "Kill them."

Stefan's mind raced. He knew this was coming. He would have to kill in front of Elena. She knew he'd been killing people but to do it here? To kill people she probably knew? It would change them irrevocably. Forever.

"What are you waiting for?" The original prompted impatiently. Stefan closed his eyes as Elena began to beg him not to. But what could he do? He was staring at the innocent teenagers he was going to have to drain, the veins pulsing around his eyes at the thought of what he was about to do. His eyes snapped back to Klaus however when he heard Elena scream and saw her flying backwards.

Immediately he moved. He threw himself towards her, snarling at Klaus who grabbed him by the waist preventing him from helping her or attacking him, though Stefan himself wasn't sure which he would attempt first anyway given the chance.

First thing he would have to do though was break free and though he could best an original he certainly wasn't a match against a hybrid. He tried to fling himself forcefully from the other's grasp but somehow couldn't move he was only pulled back against Klaus' chest and immobilised, one arm holding him tightly across the waist, another choking across his throat.

"She means nothing to you?" The blonde hissed in his ear, "your lies just keep piling up." Stefan closed his eyes at the rasped voice, thick with emotion he wished he couldn't see in the hybrid. He could try with all his might but he just couldn't seem to forget that day in the woods, that one sentence that had changed his view of the older vampire forever. _You're the only comrade I have left._

God damn it.

Stefan gripped the arm across his throat tighter, not sure himself if he was trying to pull it off. He couldn't think about this anymore.

"Let her go," he choked out, "I'll do whatever you want, you have my word."

The arm only pulled back tighter across his windpipe. "Your word doesn't mean much now," the hybrid spat resentfully, "I lived by your word all summer during which time I never had to resort to this," he snarled, truly furious, gripping him tightly by the shoulders and turning the younger vampire to face him. Stefan's eyes widened as he realised what the hybrid was going to do, or at least attempt to do. As he looked into crystal blue eyes he saw the pupils dilate and heard Klaus growl, "stop fighting."

Stefan panicked suddenly as he began to feel the compulsion take effect. He looked at Klaus frantically and the blonde's lips tilted up just a little. "Stefan," he said, moving his hand up to cup the brunette's chin. "You thought ingesting a little vervain everyday would stop me?" He seemed amused, "I've had your blood Stefan and it is _delightful_. The amount of vervain you choke down every morning is just enough to add a spicy little kick." The original smirked.

Stefan closed his eyes, begging. "Please. Please don't do this." If there was any time he wished those redeemable qualities would show up it would be now.

The blonde actually seemed pained and for a moment Stefan allowed himself to hope. "I didn't want to," he seemed even a little apologetic but the as quickly as the emotion flickered, it was gone. Replaced by only anger and frustration. "All I wanted was your allegiance. Now I'm going to have to take it," he ground out, still gripping Stefan's chin.

"Don't, don't." He begged. If there was anything worse than the situation he was already in it was not having control over his own actions. The mere thought terrified him but his pleas were ignored.

"You'll do exactly as I say, when I say it. You will not run, you will not hide, you will simply just obey." The original stated smoothly, staring deep into his eyes. "Now kill them," he whispered, "_ripper._"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** All the reviewers in the TVD fandom are amazing, you guys leave such helpful feedback :) Especially EclipsedWonderland, you give me all these crazy ideas!

Alright, hands up! Who thought it was ridiculous that Klaus just ran off like a pansy with one word from Damon?


	9. IX

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>Stefan couldn't help but rush the young girl first, then the distraught boy, tearing their throats out. He didn't drink at all. He didn't need to – he was still far too satisfied from the hybrid blood he'd consumed over twenty four hours ago.<p>

He turned slowly, dropping the boy's corpse to the floor, blood still dripping from his lips. He saw the horrified look on Elena's face and he knew that something there had been broken. He knew even just staying friends would be a stretch at his point. As he studied her still form her eyes glazed over with fear.

He felt anger rise up in him. Fury. Stefan wasn't an idiot, he knew she felt something for his brother, be it sympathy or more. But he'd thought that their love was stronger than any passing fancy she might have thought she had for Damon. But the way she was looking at him now, she'd never looked at his brother, and what made them so different?

Why was he a terrifying monster when he fed on humans? He was compelled to this time for god's sake. Damon had been feeding on human blood forever. He wasn't as viscous as Stefan, didn't quite tear them apart like he did, that he could concede but he was a ripper. That was what it was like for him. And Damon may have been on blood bags now but he hadn't been for a long time and Stefan was sure he'd done some terrible things too.

"What?" He couldn't hold himself back from glaring at Elena, just a little. She jumped, scuttling back a little in her position on the gym floor and Stefan groaned.

"Elena..." he tried frustrated, moving closer.

"This isn't you." She whispered. "This isn't you Stefan."

"Actually it is, I just invited him to the party love – he's the one dancing." The hybrid said from next to her and Stefan glared at him.

"No. You compelled me."

"And you lied to me so I guess we're even," the hybrid glared back. The ounce of regret Stefan had seen in his eyes was gone now – the blue depths remained cold, revealing nothing.

They were startled by the sound of the doors to the gymnasium slamming open and all of a sudden Stefan found himself suspended in the air by his throat. He snarled down at the newly healed Rebekah and she threw him across the room like a rag doll. He groaned as he was propelled into the wall of the gym, brick raining down around him.

She was on him in an instant. "Where is it?" She hissed. He glared up at her and then did something childish and stupid – he spat in her face. "You cretin!" She shrieked, slamming his head down into the floor not once, but two times, cracking his head like an egg on the ground. He growled shoving her off him and pinning her to the wall she'd tossed him into. She screamed and struggled but they were still evenly matched for the moment.

He felt a hand encircle his wrist and turned his angered gaze to meet Klaus. "Let her go Stefan." Infuriatingly his hand dropped instantly.

Faster than the human eye the younger original lashed out, shoving Stefan backwards before she was unceremoniously slammed back into the wall and the hybrid hissed, "Get off him, Rebekah." Hand still clenching around her throat.

Slowly, he let them both go and backed off a step. "Now. What brought on _this_ little squabble?" He said darkly, as if irritated by two fighting children.

"Well after he _stabbed me_." She snarled, "I eventually found you here, but first I stumbled upon your little werewolf in the corridor." The hybrid ignored Stefan's sharp look at that, "with that compelled little human. But there was a vampire with him, the blonde one."

"Caroline." Stefan murmured.

She looked at him disdainfully. "Yes, well, she was talking on the phone to someone so I took it from her. Imagine my surprise when the picture on it had the doppelgänger Wearing my necklace." She held up the small device, screen lighting up with a damning image of Elena and Caroline.

Klaus' turned to face him then. "Well well. More lies." The look of disappointment infuriated Stefan and in a blur of speed he surged forward and snapped Rebekah's neck. He heard Elena let out a surprised yelp and immediately felt strong arms pulling him back. He looked to where the blonde's temporarily immobile body lay and couldn't help but feel satisfied even if he'd angered Klaus.

Once he'd calmed and his chest had stopped heaving, the veins around his eyes receding, Klaus allowed him to shrug off his arms and step back. Surprisingly all the hybrid did was give him a sharp look before turning to Elena.

"Where's the necklace sweetheart? Be honest."

"I don't have it. I'm telling the truth – Katherine stole it." She said, trying to put up a brave front but Stefan and Klaus for that matter could see her fear. She was telling the truth.

"Katerina." Klaus murmured, "of course." He began to pace, saying to the room at large sarcastically, "well that's unfortunate. If we had the necklace it would make things a whole lot easier for your witch. But since we're doing this the hard way, let's put a clock on it shall we?"

Stefan could tell the hybrid was furious. Either because of Katherine's thwarting of his plans yet again or because of Stefan's lies, it didn't really matter anymore. The original had no reason to be in any sort of congenial mood – which didn't bode well for them.

He strode over to the LED timer, used to keep the score and time accessible during basketball matches and pulled a switch. "Twenty minutes!" The hybrid hissed. "And if Bonnie hasn't found a solution by then I want you to feed again," he strode closer to Stefan, inches away from touching, "and this time I want you to feed on Elena." He smirked over at her.

"You know you want to." He whispered to Stefan softly before turning on his heel. "No one leaves." He yelled over his shoulder to his sister who Stefan noticed was just now awakening. As she followed her brother out he heard Klaus say to her, "if she tries to leave, fracture her spine." The blonde looked gleeful at the possible opportunity and they both exited the gym.

Slowly, Stefan turned to Elena who was looking at him in fear. He had one question.

"What the hell is going on?"

* * *

><p>After Elena had explained to him about Tyler and about Klaus' ultimatum to Bonnie they sat in silence, not daring to look at each other and altogether too aware of the ticking clock.<p>

"So..." They both started at the same time, and stopped, looking at each other. Elena laughed. "You go."

Stefan stared at her for a moment, her smile had lit up her face and for a moment it was as if everything was okay. As if they were okay.

"I'm sorry." He muttered.

She looked up at him. "Did you..." She trailed off, looking down before seemingly gathering some determination. "Did you mean what you said? In Chicago?"

He closed his eyes. He didn't even know how to answer that question. He didn't know when he was still acting anymore. He couldn't tell when he was playing a part or if he had just changed so much that this was him now.

"Yes." He whispered, closing his eyes. "I love you, Elena. But it wouldn't work between us." In his mind he silently added, _I'm not strong enough_.

Elena seemed to know what he was thinking though, she always did. "We can find a way." It sounded weak, even to her he guessed as she flinched as the words left her mouth.

"I'm not the same." He said quietly, darkly. Trying to get her to understand.

"We'll figure it out Stefan!" She sounded desperate and he sighed.

"I love how you try so hard. For your friends, for your family...never change Elena." He stood, moving towards the back of the gym, pacing.

Elena suddenly gasped. "Caroline's dad. Stefan he was able to resist compulsion! I don't know how but he did it, maybe it's possible!"

He stopped pacing and laughed sarcastically, "this isn't Damon doing some fancy mind trick Elena, it's _Klaus_." He moved toward her, glowering darkly. "When that timer runs out I will _have_ to feed on you and I don't know if I'll be able to stop." He figured that he would be able to, after all he actually wasn't _hungry _– for once in his life. But if Elena knew that then she wouldn't run and he couldn't take any chances.

"Elena you have to run. As soon as that buzzer goes off you have to run."

"You can stop Stefan! You just have to try!" He listened to her protests, growing angry as she refused to budge. Why couldn't she see that he was trying to do what was best for them? For her?

"You don't get it Elena!" He hissed. "I'm a ripper! It's what I am. All I can hear while you're talking to me, when you're anywhere near me is your heart, pumping blood. It never stops for me." He could admit to a little exaggeration, but he really needed to force the point home. He couldn't afford to be complacent and make a mistake.

"You need to fight Stefan." She whispered. "You need to fight, because after everything that we've been through you owe me that."

He stared into her eyes. She was right of course. He owed her – so much. "You're right." He whispered. "You're right. I owe you everything because through all of this you're the one thing that has kept me from giving it all up – from turning it all off."

She had been what he was holding onto for those three months. Her, Damon, Mystic Falls. But he wasn't lying when he said next, "but I can't help what I am Elena," heart near bursting with pain at the devastated look on her face. "The more blood I get the more I want it." Why couldn't she understand?

It had been a while since he'd thought about – the switch. Staring into Elena's terrified eyes today, seeing her disgusted look as he tore apart her school mates...it made him want it. More than once the last three months he tried to make himself do it, to turn it all off. But he couldn't. And a part of him wondered if maybe that was because there was no switch?

He couldn't count the amount of times he'd caught glimpses of emotion from Klaus – fleeting but there and the original was over a thousand years old. If anyone would have their supposed switch turned off – it would be Klaus.

The clock was ticking down to it's last seconds and Stefan had begun to sweat. He needed her to stop being so stubborn and _run_.

"Please," he begged her, "Elena, please, please, please." He dragged himself backwards, trying to put as much distance between them as possible. He heard the sound of the buzzer ringing through his ears and knew this was it.

He couldn't help it – his body launched towards her and her terrified scream made him snarl, holding onto the bleachers and screaming, "Elena, run! Go!" As stubborn as she was, along with her heartfelt proclamations of love and how she believed in him...she was still terrified. She ran.

The compulsion made his body fling itself after her and he tried his best to slow himself down, using the last of his willpower to slam himself into lockers, walls anything within his vicinity. He was like a comet careening out of control.

He stumbled through a doorway and his eyes fell upon a cleaner's cart. There was a broom. He snapped it in half over his knee, breaking the end off and stabbed himself through the stomach – not the heart – and in that moment he came to a lurching realisation. He wasn't willing to die for her. He should have been willing to die for her. He should have taken the makeshift stake and driven it through his heart. But he couldn't. Why?

He disgusted himself.

He turned, grunting in pain when the door suddenly opened and Klaus blew in, Elena struggling in his grip. "Now this is fascinating, I've never seen this before." He was angry now, not just frustrated Stefan could tell. "The only thing stronger than your craving for blood...is your love for this one girl." He finished through grit teeth, grip on Elena's arm tightening visibly. In a rare display of feeling the older vampire seemed genuinely pissed off that he was choosing Elena over him.

In an instant, Klaus had turned to him. "Why don't you turn it off?" He said lightly, striding closer and Stefan grunted out a fierce "no."

"Come on," the hybrid called, taking a seat upon a table as if he were a spectator at a sporting match. "Your humanity is killing you." He seemed to make a joke out of it but Stefan saw right through his false expression. "All the guilt must be exhausting...turn it off."

And he knew he had a chance. A chance to convince him – to make him see differently because despite it all the hybrid seemed truly desperate to win him over, even after all the lies.

"No!" Was this even about his guilt? Stefan thought through a haze of pain. Or was it about Elena and the fact that he'd lied about her to Klaus. Punishing him for his betrayal.

"You're strong," he said, sauntering closer, "but you're not that strong." He ripped the makeshift stake from his chest. Stefan gasped, grasping at his stomach. He didn't dare move from his position as Klaus looked directly into his eyes, sounding deceivingly calm. "Turn. It. Off."

There was a dangerous look in the hybrid's eyes now and Stefan felt fear rise within him. He couldn't do this. He couldn't turn all of this off. This was him, this was who he was.

"No!" He screamed, shoving Klaus away from him. He felt embarrassingly close to tears, panic welling in the pit of his stomach. Klaus was going to compel him he knew it. But he couldn't, he just _couldn't _switch it off.

As he was shoved back against the wall he was prepared to beg. He closed his eyes as Klaus screamed at him. He knew he'd been lucky, just a second later and he would have been compelled. He opened his eyes in anguish.

"Don't. Please." He begged.

"Now, Stefan." The hybrid snarled.

Stefan squeezed his eyes shut tight, gasping. Pain exploding in his chest. "But then I wouldn't feel anything for you either." His voice was soft. The words had just slipped out of their own accord but he couldn't find it within himself to regret it. He didn't label what these feelings were, it didn't need to be said. He'd already given enough.

But he hadn't chosen. He refused to choose.

It was then that Stefan realised the hybrid was gripping his hips intimately, holding him in place. "Please, Klaus." He begged, his hand's rising up to grip the original's shoulders. "Don't do this." As he stared into blue eyes, broken, he saw something flicker. A small spark but it was there.

In a millisecond it was gone.

"If you don't want me to fix you Stefan, then _show me_ you don't need to be fixed. _Drink_ from the doppelgänger's neck. Now."

Stefan stared into unyielding baby blues and realised that he had no choice. He had to do this. He closed his eyes, gripping the shirt under his fingers tightly and taking a deep breath. Gently he pushed the hybrid away and moved toward Elena.

"Stefan," she whispered. "No..."

He wondered then, bitterly, where her belief in him had gone. She had been so stubborn in insisting that he could do it but when it came down to it she was backing away, terrified.

He took her hand gently, pulling her toward him. "It's okay Elena." He looked into her eyes and she calmed. "It's okay." He promised her and she nodded in understanding. He could control this. He wasn't that hungry. Her blood couldn't be that good anyway, he told himself.

"Tick tock." Klaus mocked quietly and Stefan's gaze hardened. Slowly he ran a hand through Elena's hair and she tilted her head to the side acquiescently. He felt a rush of blood to the head as his fangs extended and he punctured the soft skin of her neck. He drank. He drank for at least a minute before pulling away, blood dripping from his chin.

He took a step back and Elena stared at him in awe. He took another step, then another and turned to face Klaus, licking the blood from his lips.

"What this is showing me Stefan," Klaus said expressionless, "is that you're still just a liar."

"No. I'm not." Stefan stated. "What this is showing you is that I _am_ taking your side." He hissed. "But I'm loyal to my friends."

He growled as he stumbled back a few steps, Klaus suddenly appearing in front of him, shoving him. He looked murderous. "You're meant to be _loyal_ to _me_."

"I am!" Stefan snarled, with the horrifying realisation that maybe he was. He hadn't been putting on any of this, it had all just come out so maybe, just maybe that was how he really felt. "You were the one who said we were friends." Stefan's teeth were grit so hard it hurt as he pushed the hybrid back.

The original snarled at him in a true display of anger. "We used to be."

Stefan hated him in that moment. Why couldn't _any_ of them understand? Him and Elena were both the same.

"The man you were with? He's still in here." He jabbed at his chest, "but I can't _be_ him." He was so furious he could feel the veins around his eyes welling and his fangs itching to drop down.

"So what?" Klaus said sarcastically, equally angry. "You're going to just go back to feeding off little woodland animals? Run off into the sunset with _her_?" He pointed at Elena who was watching them argue with wide eyes.

"No!" Stefan roared. "I need you _both_," he hissed darkly, gaze flickering over to Elena as well, "to stop trying to mould me into something I'm not!" He breathed heavily, before kicking a broken table out of his way and storming from the room.

He was an asshole for just leaving Elena there and he knew it. But he was so _angry. _He leant against the wall outside the room, staring at the ceiling trying to calm himself down. A second later Klaus was out the door, dragging Elena. Stefan's head shot up with a glare but before he could get a word out he felt hands on his neck and the familiar pain of his spine snapping.

"See you soon Stefan." The hybrid whispered and he felt everything go black.

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><p>Intense huh? On another note...I FINALLY GOT MY SPELLCHECKER WORKING! :D Hooray! Let me know what you thought about that itsy bitsy twist of what really happened :)<p>

Next chapter Klaus ends up in Stefan's bed ;) Maybe or maybe not how you think.


	10. X

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>Stefan awoke in the same spot against the wall in the school hallway and couldn't help but feel a little bit miffed. He was really getting irritated with the amount of times his neck had been snapped and he'd woken up on the hard, uncomfortable ground. He could feel by now that Klaus' blood was pretty much out of his system and he groaned as he painfully rolled to his feet.<p>

Making his way out of Mystic Falls High he wondered what his best bet was to find out what the hell was going on. Presumably Klaus had left with Elena, she could be anywhere by now – or worse dead. And what had happened to Tyler? Had he ended up dying painfully or had Bonnie somehow managed to complete the turning process and save him?

He decided in his fuzzy mind to head home because where was Damon in all of this? The boarding house seemed to be the gathering place for when things went wrong in a supernatural manner so surely someone would be there to tell him what had happened, even if it wasn't his brother and then they could make a start on finding Elena.

He knew that there was no point in attempting to find Klaus, Klaus would come to him in time – he wasn't even sure if he wanted to see him. The small amount of trust that he may have had in the other vampire was now gone. The moment he'd looked into his eyes and taken away his free will, he'd lost Stefan's trust, so needless to say, he wasn't in a hurry to hear from him.

He heard voices as he approached the house and sighed with relief at recognizing Elena's and knowing for sure that she was alive and well. He entered without a thought but stopped short before the living room. He felt anger flare within him when he saw his brother and Elena on the couch and for a moment, just a split second he wished Klaus had forced him to flick the switch – because then he wouldn't feel like this, it wouldn't hurt so much.

He considered for the millionth time, what it would be like to feel no pain, no guilt, no sadness. But he couldn't – not at the cost of his free will, that much he was certain of. If he couldn't turn it off by himself then this was obviously how he was meant to be.

He noticed Elena looked terrible, her face gaunt. Damon had his hand on her knee comfortingly. They had sat on that couch together, him and Elena – kissed, slept, watched television. And there they were, his brother and his girlfriend...together, sitting intimately close and Stefan fought the urge to close his eyes.

Knowing something was happening and actually seeing it happen were two different things entirely.

"I promise you, I will never leave you again." Damon sounded reassuring, upset, _in love_.

He couldn't keep his mouth shut any longer. "Well doesn't this look cosy." He commented from his position leaning against the entryway. They sprung apart, heads flying around to look at him.

After a brief pause Damon spoke. "What are you doing here brother?" Elena refused to look at him.

"Last I checked," he pushed off the wall, sauntering towards Damon's drink cart and selecting his favourite whisky casually. "I live here."

He was irritated that they were so close. He couldn't blame Damon, he wasn't acting any differently than he always had, Stefan had known for a long time that Damon loved his girlfriend. He was angry that Elena acted with his brother the way she usually would with him. Immediately he recognised the hypocrisy and knew he was being unfair. He was the one who had told Elena they were over. He was the one that thought it was a good idea to end it – It didn't stop him from feeling bitter though.

Damon stepped forward, looking apologetic and Stefan knew his brother had realised the issue immediately. Damon was always good at reading him. He waved a hand dismissively, "No, by all means, carry on." He turned and walked up the staircase with his whiskey, taking the entire bottle with him.

Great, he was in a foul mood before but now? He was going to drink himself into a stupor – it always seemed to help Damon.

He made it to the upstairs hallway before he sensed anything off and he frowned, faltering in his steps a little. There was someone in his room. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with any surprise visitors tonight.

How didn't Damon sense this? Too wrapped up in Elena he supposed. As a matter of fact, they were now exiting the Salvatore boarding house to take up residence for the night at Elena's. Good Riddance.

Grumpily, he continued forward to his room, nudging the door open in preparation to tell whoever the intruder was to kindly, _fuck off_. He could get the details of whatever had happened tomorrow, he didn't even care anymore. Clearly Elena was safe...with his brother.

He stopped in the doorway, rolling his eyes at the sight of Klaus lounging on his bed, casually flipping through one of his many journals. His enhanced sight took in the labelling. _1864_.

"Do you mind?" He asked exhausted, toeing off his shoes.

The hybrid just looked up at him silently before returning to reading. Stefan glared petulantly before trodding over to his bed, flopping down next to Klaus and taking a longer swig of his whiskey. Curiously, he looked across to find out where in his life the original was up to.

He really didn't know how to act around the hybrid. Klaus seemed to be in a cordial mood but Stefan knew better than to go by what showed on the surface. He had been sure that Klaus would still be holding a grudge and had prepared himself for the worst when they inevitably saw each other again, but the hybrid seemed content to sit in silence, scouring through Stefan's journal – for what he was uncertain.

While he felt uncomfortable with Klaus reading his innermost thoughts he wasn't up to another tussle with the hybrid so he didn't really have much of a choice. He rubbed his aching neck. Once or twice and he'd be right as rain a few minutes after waking, but he had been rendered unconscious far too many times today.

"You really need to stop snapping my neck." He mused out loud, rubbing his tired muscles, hoping the whiskey would kick in and dull the pain. For once he cursed his vampiric tolerance in regards to alcohol.

"You really need to stop lying to me." The hybrid murmured sarcastically, flipping a page and Stefan supposed they were even, though he was really itching to spit out a comment about the fact that he was _compelled_ earlier. Yeah, he was still angry about that. Furious even.

He'd seen regret in Klaus' eyes after it was done, for what reason he didn't know but it was undeniably there this time, not just a passing glimpse that was easy to brush off.

He'd seen more emotion from Klaus today than ever before. The hybrid's uncaring, icy façade was cracking around the edges and Stefan was determined to be the one to put him back together again. To fix him.

Maybe they were alike in more ways than he realised yet.

Klaus absent-mindedly went to take the bottle of whiskey from Stefan's hand, but Stefan gripped it tightly. "I'm still angry at you." The hybrid finally looks up from the page, raising an eyebrow. "You compelled me." Klaus' expression doesn't change at Stefan's moody attitude and he merely holds out a hand for the bottle, smirking as the brunette hands it over reluctantly.

The original takes a swig and turns right back studying the journal. Stefan's eyes burn into the side of his head wondering what exactly he hopes to achieve by consuming the last thoughts Stefan ever had as a human.

Klaus is smiling now, sensing how uncomfortable he is with the intrusion into his private thoughts. One thing they both realise at that point is that Klaus is far too attuned to Stefan's moods.

Stefan doesn't have enough fresh blood in his body to blush but the emotion shows through on his face clearly and he snatches the worn book from Klaus' hands, throwing it to the other side of the room.

The hybrid smirks at him, rolling onto his stomach. "So. It turns out the lovely Elena's blood is the key to creating hybrids." Stefan's gaze shot up.

"How?" He asked, cocking a brow, "it completes the transition?" At the nod he received he felt a little relief. Elena would have to stay alive, she would have to be kept safe – it alleviated his guilt, if only a little. Of course she probably wasn't prepared to be a willing donor, but she would be alive and that was all they could ask for wasn't it? For now anyway.

And Tyler was now presumably a hybrid. Stefan imagined he couldn't be too happy about it, after all he was terrified enough when he first became a werewolf. He knew the transformation had been hard on Tyler the first time around so he doubted the teen would be coping very well this time around either, everything being a new experience and all.

Stefan stole back the whiskey and swigged the last mouthful from the bottle feeling pleasantly warm and buzzed. If he was in a sharper state of mind he might of wondered, even been concerned at Klaus' suddenly playful nature. Then again, he supposed, he'd created another hybrid today and he would soon be able to create an army. He wouldn't be alone anymore.

"You know," the original murmured, from next to him, head propped up on his hand. "You're very lucky this all worked out for the best or I just might have had to kill you."

Stefan laughed sardonically. "No you wouldn't."

Klaus remained quiet, smirking indulgently, not moving from his place next to the younger vampire. Stefan didn't know whether to take this as acquiescence or not.

The brunette groaned suddenly at the sharp spike of pain in his neck. "I think it's still broken," he muttered, rolling over onto his side and reaching up both hands to rub at the tip of his spine. It was actually really painful, which for a vampire over a hundred years old was definitely saying something.

When he opened his eyes again it was to Klaus' wrist hovering in front of his face. Stefan looked over, surprised, only to receive a bored look in return.

Embarrassingly his moves were lightning quick as he surged forward, snatching the offered wrist and bringing it to his mouth. Gently, he bit down letting the heated liquid flood his mouth and whimpered as his tastebuds exploded. If he was honest with himself, he could feed from Klaus and only Klaus for the rest of eternity and never get tired of this exquisite taste.

The thing about feeding from Klaus was, unlike the latest drama with Elena he didn't have to worry about stopping. When he got to a point where he was taking too much the hybrid was physically as strong, well _stronger_ than him – he could just pull away. Even though this blood was the best he'd ever tasted, he didn't have to worry about loosing control because the blonde could handle it. Could handle him. As he was.

He moaned dazedly as Klaus tapped his jaw with a finger. Releasing the hybrid's wrist from his bite delicately, he was surprised to notice the veins around his eyes hadn't appeared at all. He was in no danger of loosing himself into the dark abyss he feared so much, though he didn't know why – maybe it was the whiskey?

He sighed in relief when he noticed the pain in his neck had disappeared and flopped down onto his pillow. "Thanks," he mumbled tiredly into his bedding, struggling to keep his eyes open.

When he didn't receive a response he looked up only to find the hybrid was nowhere to be seen.

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><p>Stefan had received a phone call the next morning from Caroline, asking him to meet her in town and he had readily agreed. He could get a little more information from her on what was going on and if he was honest with himself, he was really curious about the werewolf's transformation too and they seemed to be friends.<p>

He felt so much better this morning than he had last night, completely refreshed. Though he did find as was the usual when it came to Klaus, he was a little confused as to why the hybrid had helped him out. The more time that passed though, the easier it was to figure him out and something was telling Stefan that it was an apology. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but after everything that had happened yesterday he couldn't help but think Klaus was capable of feeling guilt too – they both had things to be sorry for.

He and Caroline were currently strolling through town making small talk, both avoiding the subject they really wanted to speak about. It was a nice day out and Stefan had his Ray-Ban shades on because his eyes were feeling particularly sensitive that morning. He was fully aware of the appreciative glances he was receiving and smirked, laughing as Caroline smacked him in the arm when she noticed.

He looked down at the young vampire, sun shining in her golden locks, expression vibrant. She was always so happy no matter what, it was something Stefan loved about her – it made her quite good company. "How's Tyler?" He finally asked, he'd been wondering all morning how the transition effected werewolves when successful because he'd seen the alternative and it wasn't pretty.

"He's great actually," she replied as they walked down the street. "He says he feels better than ever – powerful. He's faster, stronger. He thinks it's amazing." Caroline rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's depiction before a frown crossed her face and Stefan couldn't help but feel that there was something she wasn't mentioning.

Stefan smiled a little, "I can imagine." He ignored her inquiring look, remaining quiet after that.

"Look can I just say something?" She asked hesitantly and he nodded for her to continue. "I know it's probably not my place and all but I just think you deserve to know. Elena's my best friend but..."

"What is it Care?" He asked when she trailed off, looking down.

"You know, you're the only one besides my dad that calls me Care." She smiled softly. "Look Stefan, I don't want to make this into something it's not, we've all had our fill of drama, I know that."

"But..?" He prompted her again, wondering how bad this could possibly be.

"Elena's getting pretty close to Damon." She blurted out, before hiding her face in her hands. "I really shouldn't be telling you this," she groaned. "But you've helped me out so much, so I kind of feel like I owe it to you."

"It's okay Care," he put a hand on her arm. "I suspected as much."

She looked up at him, "It's just that, it's not even Damon's fault this time, you know? I mean she kissed him and he can't help it, she knows he's in love with her!" She was waving her arms exasperatedly and Stefan held his hands up.

"Wait, when exactly did this happen?" He frowned, he knew his relationship with Elena had pretty much burned out but he couldn't help but feel a little hurt.

"When Damon was dying?" The blonde said hesitantly and Stefan stopped walking.

"But...that's when I was still here." He saw the apologetic look in her eyes and groaned, running a hand through his hair. Elena had kissed Damon, really?

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you..."

"No, no. It's better that I know." He said quietly, wrapping a hand around her shoulders at her distressed look. "I'm glad that you told me." He didn't know what to think anymore. He had thought that they loved each other unconditionally, but now...maybe Elena was more like Katherine than they both realised.

"If it helps," she said, "I really don't think it's Damon's fault this time, so don't be angry at him."

Stefan grinned looking down at her, "you're protecting Damon now?" She punched him in the arm. He was taking quite a lot of hits from her today.

"Shut up." She muttered as they began to walk again.

Stefan could tell she was still concerned though and tried to appease her. "Don't worry Caroline, I won't say anything." he assured, "I'm not angry at them – either of them."

And he wasn't really. He was hurt, that much he admitted, but he found it so hard to be angry at them. His brother – who had been so tortured by his unrequited love for Katherine over the years – really deserved someone like Elena to love him. And Elena, he knew their relationship was over logically, but more than that he felt guilty. Guilty over everything he'd done this summer. Over what he'd become. They just...didn't fit anymore. If Elena picked Damon...he'd be happy for them.

"So, what all do you know about this Mikael vampire?" Caroline asked suddenly and Stefan's head shot up.

"Nothing, what do you know about him?"

"She looked at him strangely for a moment before replying, "he's the only thing that can apparently defeat Klaus." Stefan raised an eyebrow for her to continue and she went on, "Pearl told Anna who's a ghost haunting Jeremy and told him with a little persuasion from Damon and Katherine that he was a vampire and a hunter and that they'd be idiots to wake him."

Stefan's mind was reeling, though he couldn't help but smile, that was the old Caroline shining through – she sounded exactly like she used to when spreading gossip across the school halls. But Anna was a ghost? Haunting Jeremy? He'd never get over the weirdness that surrounded this town.

"So they're going to try and find him?" He asked, wondering what kind of vampire, hunter or not, could defeat Klaus? An original and a hybrid? You would think that to have any chance this Mikael would have to pre-date him – but nothing came before the originals...right?

"They already _have_." Caroline looked up at him, "Jeremy and Katherine went to find him while Damon came back to help Bonnie and save Elena. They would have awakened him by now." At his confused look she elaborated, "apparently he was entombed by witches in the nineties."

Stefan's brow furrowed. This was not good. He of all people knew how bad Damon's master plans tended to end up going and with Katherine involved? "He's a vampire hunter but!" Stefan protested. "What's to stop him from hunting us?"

Caroline huffed, "I don't know Stefan but you know Damon, he won't listen to any of us, especially with Katherine on his side and most likely Elena too..."

"Of all the stupid ideas." Stefan murmured. "If this guy is strong enough to best Klaus and he's headed here...we're _all_ screwed." Caroline nodded calmly and he turned to ask her a question that had been burning on the tip of his tongue since the conversation began. "Why are you telling me all this? Aren't you afraid I'll just go and tell Klaus?"

From the way Elena and Damon had acted last night he hadn't expected much civility while he was here – getting a call from Caroline had been a bit of a shock. Then again the blonde had always been different.

"Look, I trust you Stefan and I know you'll do what you think is best." She sighed, rubbing a hand over her tired eyes, something he'd never seen before from the bubbly teen. "Damon said that Klaus ran off with his tail between his legs as soon as he mentioned Mikael." Stefan didn't doubt that Klaus' fear of this guy was very real – he'd seen it himself in the twenties, but running away from Damon? It only made the younger Salvatore all the more concerned. Just what had Damon gotten them into?

"Anyway," Caroline continued, "I'm pretty sure that if this goes bad, which I think it will," she looked up at him worriedly, "Klaus might be the only one who can stop this guy."

Stefan raised an eyebrow, surprised. "You want to side with Klaus?"

"Not really." She huffed, " I just think it might be our only option. I don't have a good feeling about this Stefan."

He knew she was right – he was having the same feeling himself. "Look, I'll try and talk to Damon. I can't promise anything since we're not on the best of terms at the moment but maybe he'll listen."

"I could come with you?" She asked and he couldn't help but feel a little relieved. He really didn't think he could face Damon and most likely Elena alone with all these conflicting _feelings_ churning around in his gut. "It's the first day of school tomorrow, how about after?" She suggested and he nodded.

"Sure, I'll be at school anyway." At her surprised look he continued, "I think we should be watching Elena until we figure out what we're going to do with this Mikael guy."

They had met up in the main street today so he offered to walk her home and by the time they reached her door she seemed to be brimming with more questions.

"So did you see Klaus at all before he left?"

"I don't know if he has left." He turned to her, "I saw him last night but he pulled a disappearing act right after, why?"

She looked down, "You don't have to ask him, I don't want to put you in a bad position! But if you see him, it's just...Tyler's been acting really strange," she frowned as if in thought, "Almost like his old self. He's pretty pro-Klaus too."

"You're wondering if he compelled him?" Stefan asked curiously, having never thought of that though he supposed it was a possibility.

"Yeah, I mean, can he even do that to hybrids?"

Stefan sighed, "I have no idea, Care. Has he come to you, about...vampire stuff?" He knew Caroline had said the teen was adjusting fine but surely he'd be having problems with his hunger, adjusting to his speed and strength? Anything at all?

She just shook her head, "that's why I'm worried." She went to continue but the door opened behind her to reveal Sheriff Forbes looking less than pleased.

"Stefan..." Her voice was steely and Caroline looked a little sheepish.

"I was just leaving," he nodded awkwardly, "Look," he said, turning to Caroline, "we'll see Tyler tomorrow, see if we can figure out what's up."

The blonde vampire nodded silently, eyes darting between her mother and Stefan. "Okay."

Stefan left quickly lest he invoke the wrath of Sheriff Forbes who was clearly in the loop now and knew exactly why Stefan had been missing the past couple of months. It must have looked bad for her to find him hanging around with her daughter again when she clearly hadn't yet been informed about yesterday's events.

When he arrived back at the boarding house only minutes later it was to find his brother locked in a heated stare with his least favourite original in the world. Honestly, why couldn't Klaus just wake up Elijah instead? At least he would be good for conversation and much, _much_ less annoying.

"Klaus has compelled Stefan to turn off his emotions, so you can pretty much forget about any more of your little plans." He saw Damon's brow furrow as he appeared in the doorway behind the blonde original. He widened his eyes at his brother, pleading with him to play along.

He didn't know why Klaus had told his _darling_little sister that he'd compelled Stefan, maybe it was just to save face, but until he found out whether there was some sort of master plan in the works it was best that they all just played along. Luckily for him, Damon always knew what he was thinking just by reading his facial expressions and though he probably wasn't happy about it he didn't know if the new girl was a threat to them or not so he followed Stefan's lead.

"Speak of the ripper." He nodded to her and Stefan stepped forward into her line of sight.

"What are you doing here Rebekah?" If Klaus really had abdicated last night as everyone seemed to assume then would he really have left Rebekah here for Mikael to find? Stefan rolled his eyes at his own thoughts, of course he would. Klaus had only woken his sister because he thought she had something he needed, it was obvious he found he more than a little irritating – she was unneccesary baggage.

"My brother," she spat the word as if it was an expletive, "left me here."

Stefan raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I can see that. What I meant was, why are you in my house?"

The blonde looked shocked before her features turned angry. She started towards him slowly, probably intending to look threatening when Stefan chided her. "Tut tut Rebekah," he smirked as she stopped in her tracks. "You didn't think Klaus left without seeing me first did you?" He let his fangs extend. "Cross me and I won't have any trouble snapping your neck again. I'm loyal to Klaus, not you."

He smirked at her knowing she'd get the silent message he was conveying, that yes he had hybrid blood in his system and no, she couldn't one up him. He noticed his brother from the corner of his eye raise an eyebrow looking impressed.

The blonde only huffed before flouncing up the stairs in an attempt to save face. "I guess I'll show myself to my room then."

Stefan glared after her. If there was anyone in the world he could stake...

He turned to Damon who was gesturing at the stairs angrily. Stefan took it to mean, 'what the hell are we going to do about her?' Quickly he picked a book off the bookshelf, gesturing for Damon to throw him a pen. Ruining what was probably a very expensive first edition copy of some timeless classic he scribbled over a random page.

_We need a plan. Gilbert house tomorrow morning. _

Damon didn't look too pleased at the idea of using Elena's house for a meeting when he clearly didn't trust Stefan but he nodded to show he understood. Stefan gestured for him to go before their unwanted house guest showed up again. As his older brother sped out of the house he wondered when exactly they were going to get a moment's peace.

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><p><strong>AN:** Wow, the new ep really threw me. I'm not sure I agree with how they're writing Stefan, just because he 'doesn't have emotions' doesn't mean he would necessarily go out of his way to torture people? Food for thought anyway. What's your opinions?


	11. XI

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>Damon was already absent when Stefan woke the next morning as was their current resident original so he quickly dressed and set out to the Gilbert house by himself. There was no sign of Klaus either which really made Stefan irritated. Why would the original run off and leave him here when he'd made it very clear that Stefan was never leaving him – it made no sense!<p>

He pulled out his phone a block from Elena's house and dialled the only number in his contacts menu. It rang not twice, but two and a half times so Stefan knew he was being screened. He growled, frustrated, as he was told to leave a message after the tone.

"I cannot believe you ran off and left me here with your psychotic sister." He started dangerously. "Where the _hell_ are you? You'd better have a plan to deal with this Mikael guy or we're all dead." He paused for a moment to breathe in deeply. "I need to know what I'm up against, so get back here." He almost hung up but added as an afterthought, "and bring that damn dagger back with you!"

He pressed the end call button down a little too harshly and groaned out loud. "I am so dead. He's going to kill me." Why exactly did he think it was a good idea to get stuck into Klaus? Being on the phone had evidently given him a little too much courage to speak his mind, the hybrid was going to come back and rip him a new one.

He looked up at the sound of a giggle and found Caroline standing in front of him, fashionably dressed as always and a hand covering her mouth to stop her apparent mirth from escaping. She gave in and laughed harder at his look of dismay, clutching her sides. "Come on," he rolled his eyes, grabbing her arm and pulling her down the remaining block to the Gilbert house.

Caroline didn't bother to knock, just walked right in and Stefan uncomfortably followed suit. The hallway was still the same – same pictures, same paint on the walls. Of course it had only been a few months since he'd been here but to him – it felt like forever. He didn't know why but he expected it to be different, but it wasn't.

There were voices coming from the living room and Stefan felt deja vu.

"I still can't believe he's gone." Elena mumbled and he and Caroline looked at each other as if to ask, do we go in now? "What are we going to do about him?" He could imagine Elena looking up at Damon with a pleading expression, searching for guidance and Damon would then swoop down like a knight in shining armour.

"I think," He cleared his throat from the doorway, "that you have more pressing things to worry about." He leaned against the door frame, looking over to his brother, who was exactly where predicted – kneeling in front of Elena, ready to offer comfort.

Damon shot to his feet at his appearance and Elena gasped as Caroline stepped forward beside him.

"What are you doing with him blondie?" Damon snapped and Stefan glared. He'd been waiting so long to be able to see his brother. To spill everything he was worried about but he should have known that while Damon couldn't just let him die – he would never change, Stefan would never come first to him.

He felt so naive.

"Nice to know how you really feel Damon." He stepped forward, sauntering into the room. "I think what you should be more worried about is the vampire hunter you're about to bring down on all of us." He lifted his chin as he spoke to his older brother, not prepared to give an inch – Damon could very well have doomed them all.

"You mean the vampire hunter we're bringing down on your buddy Klaus," Damon replied sarcastically and Stefan couldn't help but roll his eyes, same old Damon.

"If someone like Klaus is scared of this guy then how the hell do you think we're going to handle him when he's done with Klaus and he turns on us?"

He still remembered the first time he heard Klaus' name, this decade at least. The first time he'd heard it and not thought him just a legend. Rose had turned up in his living room to insist that he needed her help. At the time he'd been surprised, maybe a little apprehensive. He'd had no idea just how far this would go, how he should have felt that first time he heard the hybrid's name. He should have listened when Rose said 'if you're not afraid of Klaus, you're an idiot'. Which all really put this Mikael guy in perspective – as far as Stefan was concerned, they should start running now.

Damon protested immediately. "What we know about him is that he hates Klaus! We don't know that he'll care about us three at all."

Stefan stepped towards Damon. "You're an idiot, brother." He glared as his brother rolled his eyes at him. "You don't get it do you?" Stefan chuckled. "The only way to really stop Klaus, to hit him where it hurts? Is to ruin any chance he has of creating his hybrid army." He waited patiently for them to catch on. "The first person he'll be killing when he gets here...is Elena."

Damon began towards him angrily and Stefan wished not for the first time that his brother wasn't so stubborn and hard headed. They had to realise he was right, the key to this whole thing was, as it always was, Elena Gilbert.

Caroline then spoke for the first time, desperate to diffuse the situation. "It's not that we don't want to get rid of Klaus," she started, pausing to send Stefan a sidelong glance. "It's just that this guy is a vampire hunter. He hunts _vampires_. That's us too! I for one seriously doubt he'll overlook us when he's done."

"So what? You expect us to ask Klaus for help?" Elena spoke up from the couch. Her stare hadn't left Stefan's face since he'd first entered the room.

Caroline smiled. "Well..." She turned to look at Stefan expectantly.

Stefan glanced between her and Elena, eyes widening, "What? No!" He knew exactly what they were thinking and there was no way in hell he was going to go out of his way with Klaus, sticking his own neck out when it was their mess in the first place. They should be the ones to ask for help, especially after how coldly they'd treated him.

Elena finally looked him in the eye, "He's more likely to listen to you," she said pleadingly, "he actually likes you."

Stefan shook his head, "you don't know what you're talking about."

"I do," she insisted. "You may have forgotten I was there but I saw you two yesterday. Regardless of whether he wants to kill all of us," she went on bitterly, "you guys are...friends."

Stefan gaped at her in disbelief. "Klaus doesn't have friends." And it was true. Klaus didn't have friends he had...possessions. People he _owned_.

Elena approached him and he groaned at the look in her eyes. He just knew he would cave eventually – he couldn't stand that sad puppy look that the girls seemed to have perfected. "If he was going to care about saving anyone at all in this town, it would be you."

He knew she was right. It wasn't that Klaus cared about him per'se but for reasons yet unknown to him the original still wanted him around. But even so, he figured Klaus' plan of action would be run like hell, so whole he'd probably grab Stefan before making a speedy getaway that in no way helped Elena.

He sighed, reaching out to grip her shoulders. "You know I'll try to help you Elena, but I can't _make_ Klaus do anything – no one can."

She looked up at him with tearful eyes, there was a small smile trying to emerge on her wobbling lips. "Come here." He sighed again, pulling her into his arms. As he held her she let out a small sob and he couldn't help but feel relieved. He couldn't ask for things to go back to how they were, he knew that, but he never wanted to be on bad terms with Elena.

There was a niggling in the back of his mind saying that Klaus had already left. That he'd run off and left Stefan there anyway and he wasn't coming back – that they were in this on their own. But he couldn't believe that – he refused to. He _knew_ Klaus, at least better than anyone else did right now and he believed that he would come back...to retrieve him at least.

"Shh." He rubbed Elena's back softly as she cried. Aware of his brother's glare burning into him he slowly let her go.

"We'll figure something out." He said to the room at large, "we always do." He looked awkwardly over at his brother who's glare was still firmly in place.

When Elena took a step back Damon immediately latched onto her arm and pulled her flush to his side. Stefan smiled a little at the possessive gesture.

"We have another problem though." Damon said, raising an eyebrow and making no move to loosen his grip. "Our unwanted house guest."

Elena's face lit up at this, "Is she really Klaus' sister?" Her natural curiosity had sparked.

"Well, half-sister technically." He assumed they all knew the story well enough by now, "but yes, she's an original."

"So what are we going to do about her?" Came a voice from behind him and they all shot around at the voice of Elena's little brother. Stefan's mind raced. If Jeremy was here then did that mean that Mikael was too? They'd made it back to Mystic Falls already?

"He's not here," he said at their expectant looks, eyes darting to Stefan and then back to the others, clearly wondering why they seemed to be involved in a civil conversation. "He refuses to eat. Katherine's still there trying to get some blood into him."

Stefan's brow furrowed. If this vampire really had been entombed for near twenty years how could he possibly refuse to eat? That much willpower...

He looked over to Damon who shrugged, "she's not picking up the phone."

"We need a plan." Stefan murmured, looking around the room. Damon had only told Elena and Caroline of their problem which he was grateful for, he didn't really need Tyler involved at the moment since he may still be unstable, but he wondered briefly where Alaric was?

"Why don't we just kill her?" Damon asked sarcastically, before continuing, "oh wait, let me guess – that would upset her big brother."

Stefan glared at him. "I don't think Klaus would mind if I killed her to be honest, but in case you're forgetting _Damon_, we're lacking a certain dagger and white oak ash combination?" His brother could be so dense sometimes, seriously. How could he forget they were dealing with an original?

He watched as Damon huffed, settling his arms back across his chest. "For some reason Rebekah thinks Klaus compelled me." He turned to let Caroline know as Damon had obviously already informed Elena.

The blonde caught on quickly, "You think he led her to believe that on purpose."

Stefan nodded, speaking his thoughts aloud. "Yeah, I do think that, but still it suits our purposes anyway – she can't know we're working together and against her no less."

Elena spoke up again then, "so what? We pretend we hate each other still?"

"Exactly," Stefan nodded. "I'll act the part, you guys follow along."

Caroline took that moment to point out the fact that while we certainly had a lot of issues to deal with – she was in no way going to miss her first day of senior year.

They all began to file out of the living room when Stefan brought up a hand, "wait, wait!" He frowned, turning to Damon and Elena. "Shouldn't we bring Alaric in on this?" He was still wondering where the vampire hunter slash history teacher was, surely Damon had told him what was going on, he lived here right?

The Mystic Falls gang all turned to look at Damon awkwardly.

"Alaric won't help us." Damon said dryly, "he's on one of those 'all vampires deserve to die' benders."

Stefan raised an eyebrow. "I assume that's your fault too then?"

Damon stared back at him blankly. "I may have snapped his neck." Stefan gave him a look as he began to protest, "but he's fine really, he was wearing his ring – no harm done!"

Stefan stared at him in disbelief. Why did everyone seem to think that going around snapping necks was perfectly acceptable? "It _hurts_ Damon! No wonder he's angry at you."

"Guys!" Caroline tapped her foot, pointing at her watch anxiously. "First day. Senior year. Let's go!"

Stefan groaned, "Alright, alright. So everyone's got the story straight?"

It was Jeremy who answered this time, "You've been compelled by Klaus, you're a dick and we hate you, got it." Stefan was surprised at the blunt attitude but nodded anyway.

"That's about right." As badly as he wanted to ask the youngest Gilbert about these apparent ghosts he was supposedly seeing, Caroline was a ticking time bomb and it was in the best interests of their plan that they all started the day stress-free.

"Let's go to school." He said awkwardly, leaving the house at a brisk walk and telling himself deftly that no, he was not fleeing in any way shape or form.

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><p>Honestly, the day was going well so far, Rebekah didn't seem to suspect a thing on Stefan's part, she seemed to send a few sharp glances Elena's way but all in all he thought that maybe she was too consumed in trying to make the girl's lives miserable to put her super-lie-detector-senses to use in monitoring their encounters.<p>

He was cornered by Caroline late in the day, the blonde clearly irate with the original's presence ruining her senior year.

"She's stealing my boyfriend!" She exploded and Stefan looked around the library where she had found him, hushing her and dragging her into a back corner away from prying eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"You were wondering how Tyler was getting blood right? Her!" She hissed, "She's been bringing him _food_." She wagged her fingers irately in air quotes with the last word. "You know what she said to me?" The blonde ranted, "She said she was going to take my popularity and my boyfriend!" She fumed, "that bitch."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Stefan held his hands up, "She's been bringing Tyler people to feed from?" This was not good. If Rebekah got Tyler wrapped around her fingers it didn't bode well for any of them. He was a hybrid now, perhaps nowhere near as strong as Klaus was, being an original and a hybrid, but probably stronger than Stefan or Damon were.

"Yes!" Caroline growled, running a hand through her hair. "Not that I was supposed to know _that_ much. But that's not all!" She continued, looking more and more stressed. At times like these she really reminded him of Lexi he thought fondly. "Alaric wants to neutralize you. Tonight."

This made Stefan's head shoot up. "Why didn't you just explain to him what's going on?"

Caroline shook her head. "It was too risky, we don't know how he'd react Stefan, after what Damon did...I don't think he'd care."

Stefan rolled his shoulders tiredly. "Alright, so what's the plan?" He mumbled, hands resting themselves on his hips.

"Elena is going to pretend to be drunk, then Ric's going to drug you with vervain." Caroline shrugged, "Elena said she'd try to water it down when he's not looking so it didn't effect you too much."

"No," Stefan shook his head. "We don't need Alaric to get suspicious at all and he would know just by looking at it – he's a vampire hunter." He began to pace. "Tell her to just let him do it, it won't effect me that much anyway." He stopped as Caroline looked up at him in surprise.

"You've built up a resistance to it? Already?" She raised an eyebrow, surprised.

"Something like that." Stefan smiled wryly. He hated lying to her but the truth was he still had Klaus' blood in his system so he shouldn't be overly weakened by an average dose of vervain...he hoped. And he wasn't quite ready to admit to anyone from Mystic Falls, even Caroline that he was drinking Klaus' blood. It was too...intimate. He didn't know what they'd make of it. And it just wasn't something he wanted to share, period.

"When is this going down?" He asked curiously.

Hours later, at the bonfire Stefan was regretting his decision in refusing to let Elena interfere. Pain was flaming it's way across his back, the vervain darts working at full strength. He had misjudged the power of Klaus' blood after a fair amount of time. He was sure if he had of fed recently he would be fine, but now? His back was laced with fire.

He didn't have it in him to remain completely concious anymore and his mind floated in and out of a blackness. On the ground, in a car. On fire. His back was on fire...but why did he smell smoke? Elena was screaming and his brain kicked into gear – for a second and only a second he found enough strength to kick the back of the truck they were in and send it flying.

What was going on? Why was the world alight? He couldn't stay awake any longer and passed out once more.

When he awoke, he was in his room at the boarding house and voices were floating up from downstairs. Slowly, he rolled over, groaning and made his way to the lounge room, limping down the stairs. He found Damon and Elena present, his brother cleaning her wounds from the fire.

When their eyes found his he raised a brow questioningly.

"She's not here." Elena said, wincing at a burn on her neck.

"What happened?" He groaned, twisting out a crick in his neck, padding across the room to flop down on the couch next to them.

"According to Bonnie, it was Vicki." Stefan stared at him in disbelief.

"Previously Matt's sister Vicki? Dead and now ghost Vicki?" How the hell did she manage that? She was corporeal now or what?

"Long story short, she made a deal with the original witch in order to return. All she had to do was kill me." Elena finished dryly, at least finding some humour in the fact that nearly every supernatural being out there seemed to want her dead at some point in time.

Stefan shook his head, mind still hazy. "She's gone now though right?"

"According to witchy." Damon nodded. "But that doesn't mean we have any less trouble now then we did before." He stood up, "We have to get rid of Rebekah."

Stefan smirked a little, "Why? You guy's seemed pretty cosy?"

He dropped the smile as his brother levelled him with a flat look. "Yeah, right up until she put a tree branch through my stomach."

Stefan winced visibly, yeah, he knew exactly how that felt. He remembered how much it had hurt a few days ago when she'd done it to him and he'd been hyped up on hybrid blood at the time.

Speaking of his gums were absolutely burning now that he paid attention to it. He was really, _really_ hungry. And weak.

"Look," he sighed tiredly, "We can't count on getting a dagger from Klaus but the dagger is made by a witch right? Surely Bonnie can find something about it in her grimoires?" He looked to Elena who shrugged, nodding. "So get her onto that and then we just need to get a hold of the white oak ash."

"Easier said than done, brother." Damon noted and Stefan nodded in acquiescence.

"I know, but it's all we've got." He ran a hand through his hair. "We have to do something about Tyler too, apparently he's gone a little off the deep end. And," he added as an afterthought, "he's in with Rebekah too."

Damon nodded, "I know. Lockwood's been sired."

Stefan gave him a blank look.

Damon rolled his eyes, "Sometimes I forget how little you know brother." It was true. Damon definitely had a lot more knowledge on the vampire species as a whole compared to Stefan even though they'd been turned at the same time. He supposed he could put it down to the differences in how they'd spent the last century or so.

"Basically," Damon began to explain, "since Klaus was the one that gave him the blood to turn him he's fiercely loyal to him. He basically lives for him and anything he does will be for Klaus' benefit – it's like he's in love with the bastard."

Stefan couldn't place the odd feeling that rose from his stomach at that. For some reason he wanted to rip the new hybrid apart. The anger sparked his hunger and he nearly let his fangs slip down, wincing at the effort of holding them back.

"I have to go. I'll be back later." Before they could blink he was gone. He didn't want them to know he was hungry, that he was going to feed. He didn't need their pitiful looks. He didn't want them to be disgusted with him.

He had little to no resistance left in him and there was no way he could feed from a blood bag. His gums burned and he raced further and further away from the boarding house until he knew for sure he was out of range from Damon's enhanced senses.

In that quaint suburban street the next morning a neighbour would walk to the house next door intending, funnily enough, to borrow some sugar. What she would find would be a door wide open, and a blood splattered hallway that was enough to give her nightmares for the rest of her life. Nonetheless she wouldn't be able to help but keep walking, taking in the macabre scene that was the kitchen and her four neighbours, the entire family strewn across it in pieces.

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><p><strong>AN:** I apologize for the lack of klefan interaction, just setting the scene I swear ;)

How's everybody feeling with the divergence from canon at this point?


	12. XII

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>Stefan hadn't returned to the boarding house the night before. He'd wandered, finding himself in a bar in the nearest town from Mystic Falls, Virginia and drank and drank until he was ready to pass out.<p>

He hadn't put that family back together. He couldn't. He couldn't bare to spend one more minute in that house. He'd bolted as soon as he'd come back to himself, covered in blood he'd had to compel the anyone that walked into the bar not to notice him and go running.

He couldn't handle the fact that he'd wanted their blood so much he'd blacked out. He hadn't lost control in so long. He couldn't handle the fact that he wanted...he wanted Klaus. He wanted the hybrid there to stop him, because even when he wasn't trying to do so, the original held all of his attention and rarely if ever could Stefan lose himself in his presence.

He wanted Klaus back. How sad was that? And he really must have been drunk because in the deluded state that he was in he actually thought Klaus would care. What a joke, right? Unfortunately if he were bring truthful, when he looked at it in retrospect he had preferred it when it was just the two of them – no Rebekah, no Mystic Falls...for a moment Stefan toyed with the thought of leaving, of finding Klaus and taking off somewhere far, far away. He snorted, he was making it sound like a fairytale.

And besides, the hybrid wouldn't be found – Stefan would have to wait for Klaus to find him, that's just the way it was.

He had compelled the barman to just let him stay all night and had obviously at some point passed out on the bar. By the time he woke it was morning and he groaned. His brother would be far too curious by now considering the way in which he'd made a hasty exit the night before.

He had to run back at supernatural speed in order to avoid any unwanted attention to his still blood soaked clothes. He had intended to race up the stairs to his room and change before running into anyone but no such luck. As he entered the boarding house Damon was just coming down the stairs.

He stopped abruptly at the sight of his younger brother, covered head to toe in bloodstained clothes from the day before. "Who did you eat?" He raised an eyebrow and while he'd spoken with sarcasm in his tone, Stefan could see he was unsettled.

He had the decency at least to look ashamed and words couldn't explain how grateful he felt when his brother decided not to press the subject. "It doesn't matter, we've got bigger problems."

As Damon trampled down the stairs toward him Stefan wondered how the hell they could possibly get in more trouble than they had already. "I was attacked last night." Damon spoke, pausing for dramatic effect, "by Mason Lockwood."

Stefan's jaw dropped. "What? How?" There was no way. Dead werewolves were coming back to life now too?

Damon moved towards the door, "I don't know, I'm going to talk to judgey about it now but I'm going to guess it has something to do with the damned original witch." There was a twitch in Damon's jaw and Stefan knew out of all people, Mason Lockwood would be the one to annoy his brother the most. While there were a lot of dead people who would haunt them if given the chance, there was a certain animosity between Mason and Damon that trumped all others.

"Alright, see what Bonnie knows...I need to shower." He watched his brother's nose wrinkle before he took his leave and raced up the stairs, knowing he looked and smelled like...well...a murderer.

He peeled off his shirt and jeans, heading towards the shower but pausing as he rested his phone on the bathroom counter. Picking it up again he dialled a familiar number. Three rings this time before the message tone.

"I really need you to come back here Klaus. We're having a serious issue with dead werewolves coming back to life – it looks like the original witch isn't as out of the way as you thought." He sighed. "Just...call me back."

When he hung up this time he may not have been fearful because of what he'd voiced but apprehensive wasn't a feeling that was out of the question. He never knew what to say to the hybrid and to be honest he wasn't even sure if they were on good terms again or not. By the fact that he wasn't with him and had been left with no explanation whatsoever in 'hellmouth' Mystic Falls, Stefan was thinking 'not'.

He stepped under the warm spray of the shower, rubbing his tense shoulders. The past few days had just been entirely too stressful. He wondered for a brief moment why he cared so much whether Klaus returned or not, but he knew the answer and he didn't want to dwell on it. The fact that he liked the vampire was stupid enough but to think about a possibility of anything more? That was unrealistic and more than that, it was probably suicidal.

Why couldn't he stop dwelling on this? It wasn't like Klaus didn't know, he'd made his advances in the past abundantly clear and Stefan had all but admitted it to him in the school on senior prank night gone wrong. He thought for a second, ludicrously, that maybe that was why Klaus had left? After all, there was no way he'd actually run off scared...right? But no. He was being entirely too self centred. There was something he was missing here...a bigger picture – a plan in place. He just had to figure out what it was.

He sighed, exiting the shower and drying off. Another day of senior year. Why did he ever want to repeat high school again? He'd done it enough times by now to know that while the work certainly got easier, it was never more exciting. And now he had Rebekah and possibly Tyler to worry about.

Just thinking of the new hybrid made his forehead wrinkle into a frown, according to Caroline he was acting like a dick, and talking about Klaus _all_ the time. When she'd called him on it he'd shrugged like it was no big deal. At the time of course she obviously hadn't known about this whole 'sired' thing, but he doubted there's be anything they could do to change something like that – Tyler was stuck this way, for however long this thing usually lasted, maybe forever.

He couldn't help but think that maybe this was a good thing, Caroline could do so much better right? He hummed to himself out loud, okay, now he was just being spiteful that he could admit.

He didn't know why he felt so annoyed at the werewolf, it wasn't his fault he'd been unfortunate enough to be Klaus' first successful test subject and it wasn't his fault he'd been 'sired' either.

He shook his wet hair, pulling on jeans and a t-shirt. He was about to pick up his backpack from the floor when a honk resounded from the front of the house. He leaned out the window, still squinting a little at the bright morning light to see Caroline's Fiesta parked in the entryway.

Grabbing his bag and taking the stairs with vampire speed he arrived in front of her in seconds. "What are you doing here?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Well that's a nice way to greet your _only _friend, good morning to you too Stefan." She said sarcastically and he winced – Caroline was not a morning person, she may act bright and bubbly all the time in public but with friends she showed her true colours and she was _not_ a pretty sight before nine am.

"Sorry, Care." He slid into the passenger seat quickly, hoping she'd let it go quietly. She did, though not in the manner he'd hoped, she got a little sidetracked by something else.

"God Stefan, you _reek_ of blood."

The brunette winced, preferring to look out the window than see the look on her face. A shower didn't always wash off the myriad of scents one picks up from a night like last night.

"Seriously, what happened?"

He couldn't help but respond to her concerned tone, she reminded him so much of Lexi that for a moment he wanted to close his eyes and pretend that he was back there, somewhere in the 1930's and this was Lexi, saving him, telling him he could do this. But it wasn't. And this was Caroline.

"I just...I lost control." He hated how weak his voice sounded, he hated how he felt like he had to own up to it – to repent for it. He hated that he'd done it in the first place and most of all he hated that he wanted Klaus. He wanted Klaus to be here, to keep him in check – and how fucked up was that? Klaus was the one that had started all of this, set him on this inane homicidal bender and he wanted him here? _Why?_

"Were they...were you in Mystic Falls?" Her voice was quiet and he nodded silently, not trusting his voice to speak. "How many?"

He only had to say one word, one short word – four letters and his voice still cracked. "Four."

He finally gained the courage to raise his head and meet her gaze, it was compassionate and sympathetic and he really just couldn't deal with that at the moment. "Can we just go?"

He felt relief spread through him as she nodded, dropping the subject and starting the car again. She chatted brightly about upcoming events she was planning this year and how she wasn't going to let any of this supernatural crap effect the senior prom because she'd found the most beautiful dress.

It was obvious she was trying to distract him but he felt grateful anyway because it was exactly what he needed – distracting.

They received a lot of strange looks walking through the halls, probably because he was supposed to be still dating Elena and Caroline was usually seen with Tyler or her girlfriends. Stefan glared darkly at anyone who dared to meet his eyes and at one point he actually shoved a boy into locker.

"Stefan!" Caroline gasped, staring at him in disbelief.

He stared at her blankly. He was in a terrible mood already and their first period hadn't even started yet – not to mention what that first period was, it nearly made him want to groan out loud – history. And they all had it together, he, Caroline, Tyler, Elena, Matt, Bonnie and now Rebekah, not to mention being taught by part time teacher, full time vampire hunter Alaric Saltzman who still thought Stefan was a murderous hellion by the way. As if they needed any more drama.

"It goes with my cover." He murmured, even though they both knew that was just an excuse. Rebekah after the events of the bonfire last night still hadn't been tipped off to the fact that Stefan was still very much experiencing the wonderful things that were emotions in full technicolour.

Caroline went rigid as they entered their first classroom of the day and nearly stopped walking as she took in the scene in front of her. Tyler was in his usual desk but the one Care normally used next to him was now taken up by Rebekah who was leaning across to whisper some seemingly hilarious joke in Tyler's ear, resting one hand on his jean-clad thigh for balance. Very high on his jean-clad thigh.

The look on Caroline's face said it all – you have got to be kidding me. So what Rebekah had moved onto courting Tyler seriously now? Or was this all just to get to Caroline? He knew the answer as the blonde original leaned back in her seat casually, sending Caroline a triumphant smirk as she reclined.

The deadly glare the young vampire sent back was enough to make Stefan feel pride rise in his chest. Oh yeah, Caroline was definitely on his side of the 'kill Rebekah' bandwagon now. He dragged her down to sit in a seat at the back of the room next to him, wanting to be as far away from Alaric as possible. The history teacher hadn't arrived yet but Stefan was sure that once he did his eyes would be watching him intently.

And there he was. "Alright class, today we'll be discussing the confederacy," he raised a hand at the groans that resonated, "yes, I know we did it last year but it's only the second day back so we're going to do a little more revision to make sure you've got all the facts down pat. Now turn to page 234 of your textbook."

Stefan leaned back in his chair. He had a notebook and pen out for appearance's sake but didn't bother with the textbook – it wasn't as if the teacher would call him on it, thinking he'd massacre the class if he were challenged. Stefan snorted out loud. Why was he here again? Oh yeah, to keep an eye on Elena...as always.

He barely paid attention to the lesson at all as usual and he was startled when a piece of paper suddenly fluttered into existence on his desk. His eyes darted around the room, trying to find the culprit comprehension flooding him when Bonnie nodded in his direction.

The witch had used magic to make sure the note was passed unseen. Looking down he took in the quick and messy scrawl, hope rising that maybe something would look up today. _Can't spell the dagger. Bathroom after class._

Looking up he nodded to show his acquiescence. He felt his hopes drop a little – he'd been under the impression that Bonnie would be able to charm any silver dagger and that he'd only have to find the ash to infuse it with because as far as he was aware there was currently none left available in Mystic Falls. Apparently it was going to be much harder than he'd thought.

His deflated hopes to incapacitate his least favourite original made the time seem to pass slower and every tick of the clock was like a beat echoing around his head. It dragged on, paining him in a way that only an immortal being could appreciate and the ringing of the bell to signal the end of class was like a blessing to his ears. He made sure that Rebekah had followed Tyler out of the room and down the hall before he rose and ducked out, into the girls bathrooms opposite the classroom. He found Bonnie already waiting inside.

He didn't know what to expect really. He wasn't sure whether she couldn't enchant the dagger or whether she just didn't want to. She was a bit iffy that way, their little witch – you never knew if she'd help you out or if, like Alaric, she was on one of her brief but plentiful vampire hating tirades.

He knew she wouldn't be happy with helping him, personally, either way. After all he was living off human blood, _fresh_ human blood at that. She seemed to know exactly what he was thinking and she was studying him with a calculating look.

"I can't get you the dagger." She held up a finger as he went to protest, "Not because I don't want to, though I'm not sure about that either," she continued wryly, "but because it's not anywhere in my grimoires." She shook her head, "I've looked everywhere."

He sighed, crossing his arms. "It's okay, I knew it was a long shot anyway. I still would've had to hunt down the ash." They both knew they would have been lucky to get everything together successfully anyway but being in school with Rebekah in such close quarters and just _watching _how she was effecting their friends...it was hard. It made them just that little bit more spiteful.

She looked up at him with a smile. "You didn't think I'd help you, did you?"

He blinked at the witch, not really expecting her to know what he had thought. It struck him then that she wasn't at their little meeting yesterday, so did she know that he hadn't given up his humanity? Or did she just assume that being compelled to protect Elena meant he was on their side?

"I may not be like Caroline, but she's right. We have to prioritise right now and I know who the lesser evil is in this situation." As she spoke it was like a light bulb went off in Stefan's brain. He could have kissed Bonnie Bennett. Everything had just fallen into place.

"That's it!" He could hardly contain himself from yelling, they had to be careful after all, Rebekah was still in the school.

"What?" The witch frowned at him in confusion.

"The lesser of the two evils!" He repeated her words, "Bonnie, you're a genius!"

Meeting her look of consternation with a grin he continued, truly excited for the first time in days. "You need to find Elijah." He felt a plan forming in his mind. The pieces were coming together and this time it was sure to work.

"What original Elijah? Dead Elijah?" She asked, looking at him like he was crazy, which he supposed he probably seemed. "Why?"

"So we can revive him." Stefan stated easily and watched as understanding dawned in her eyes and she finished his sentence for him. "And use the dagger to kill Rebekah."

The frown returned to her face quickly, "but how do we know we can trust him?"

"We don't" Stefan stated flatly. This was the best option they'd come up with so far, they'd have to at least try it. He'd much rather have a level headed original like Elijah around than a crazy vindictive _woman_ like Rebekah. "He's the lesser evil." He concluded. "We'll just have to wake him up away from his family so he doesn't revive them all, or know their location," he mused.

Bonnie looked at him seriously. "Klaus won't be happy."

"I'll handle that." He assured her, praying to anyone who would listen that he was telling the truth – he _hoped_ he could handle him. In the end if Klaus didn't like what he'd done he could just revive or incapacitate whoever he wanted right? No harm, no foul. It was his own fault anyway, Stefan reasoned, if he were back here to keep Rebekah in line then they wouldn't have an issue.

Seeing Bonnie had noticed the grumpy look that had crossed his face and was eyeing him sharply he tried to smile. "So, can you find the family cargo?"

"I'll give it my best shot." She pulled her dark locks into a ponytail in that way that screamed 'this witch means business' and Stefan smiled, he knew she would get the information as fast as possible and conveniently enough he also knew Alaric's classroom was free this period.

"Thanks, Bonnie. Really." He turned to leave the wash rooms but stopped to look back at the sound of her voice.

"Oh and Stefan?" She sent him a harsh look, "I'm not sorry I doubted you."

He nodded understandingly. "I know."

As he walked away from the witch he knew he would be wondering all day whether she knew the truth about him or not. He didn't think the others had shared their information with her yet but he couldn't shake the feeling that she knew somehow.

Predictably it didn't take more than twenty minutes for Bonnie to contact him again. He was in biology class with Elena and Matt both sitting behind him when another note this time flamed into existence on his desk. If he weren't a vampire he probably would have been startled to the point of falling out of his seat.

Quickly he excused himself from the class using the excuse of feeling ill and ignoring the inquisitive looks of both Elena and Matt he took off down the corridor. Finally there might be some results in this war against supernatural terrorism. He snorted to himself, pushing the door to the history room open, finding both Bonnie and Alaric waiting inside.

He smiled sheepishly at the history teacher who raised an eyebrow at him with a deadpan expression. Great, now he had to worry about two people maybe or maybe not having figured something out about his humanity. Maybe he just wasn't good at being...inhuman. Then he remembered the family that had fell victim to him last night and his stomach rolled over. He definitely wasn't humane.

Sighing he turned to Bonnie, resolutely pushing the thoughts from his head. "What have you got?"

She smirked, knowing this had proven just how powerful of a witch she was, after all these weren't live people they were searching for and they had none of their possessions to anchor the power. It was definitely a feat worthy of a Bennett witch.

"They're actually not far from here."

He nodded, "not surprising, Klaus likes to keep them close." He ignored the dark looks they had taken on after his mention of the hybrid and he assumed they were imagining how he'd gotten that information in the first place.

"Well here," she pointed at a spot not far from the little town he'd been at the night before, "is where they are."

"Makes sense." he nodded, "He wouldn't keep them in Mystic Falls but they're in close enough reach he can keep an eye on them all the time."

"So," Alaric finally spoke up, "can you do it?"

Stefan raised an eyebrow deciding to replicate the teacher's earlier expression. "Of course I can." He said cockily, taking the map from Bonnie and imprinting the location into his mind's eye. "I can be there this afternoon. Question is, where are we keeping him and who's going to stab the other one?" He questioned dryly, pointing out that he couldn't complete the whole plan by himself for only a human could use the dagger on an original.

"I will." Alaric shrugged nonchalantly and Stefan nodded in approval. He had half expected them to offer up Elena.

Bonnie spoke up then, "what about the old Lockwood cellar? It's far enough from the boarding house right?"

Stefan only shook her head. "Have you noticed Caroline in a tizzy today? Rebekah's been spending too much time around Tyler for her liking. We need somewhere away from the Lockwood estate too."

"Which means Caroline's dad's vampire proof room is out too." Alaric frowned and Stefan shrugged, not really knowing what they were talking about – he'd have to ask Caroline about it later.

Bonnie sighed. "Look, just bring him to the Gilbert house, it's not like he's not invited in there anyway and Jeremy and Elena can stay elsewhere for a few days. It's not like Elena's not shacked up at the boarding house most of the time now anyway," the witch noted pointedly and Stefan agreed if a little glumly.

"I'll be there to keep an...eye on things." Alaric added and they all agreed that was probably the best plan.

They were startled apart by the door slamming open and as one they turned wide eyed to find a fuming Elena striding towards them.

"How could you Stefan?" She yelled, shoving him and he let himself move back a few steps. Okay, she was only angry at him then.

"What? What did I do?" He asked incredulously, now realising that she hadn't overheard their conversation so this wasn't about placing a potentially very dangerous original in her home.

She scoffed at him viscously, "don't act like you don't know!" She looked close to tears. "You _ripped_ them _apart_!"

He felt his heart drop through his stomach. No. No, no, no, no. She couldn't know. How did she know?

"What?" She continued, "you thought we wouldn't find out?" She was screaming hoarsely now, "They went to this school! They're from our town, Stefan!" Bonnie and Alaric were staring in shock now.

He backed away again. He knew there'd be consequences, he knew they'd figure it out. But it had seemed so much further away than this. Than today, now.

"You're not going to say _anything_?"

Why should he? There was nothing he could say. Nothing would make up for what he did – nothing would bring them back. What should he do?

He stared at her silently before disappearing in a blur of motion.

Cowardly, he was.

Cowardly. Scared. Guilty. Monstrous. Vampire.

He was a vampire, he steeled himself. This was what he was. He needed to just forget about it and move on, he would live forever – he couldn't let it get to him anymore. He needed to survive, to be a survivor. And survivor's aren't a slave to these feelings.

He refused to feel guilt for ruthlessly killing a family of four but he couldn't stop the sharp pang of it from emerging as he pulled the dagger from Elijah's chest later that afternoon. And as the brunette's eyes fluttered open and took in the Gilbert house with a deadly gaze, Stefan let that guilt consume him.

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><p><strong>AN:** I dropped off the face of the earth for a few days there! I also forgot who's PMs I'd replied to and who's I didn't so sorry if I haven't, send me a reminder! Eeep!

I know there wasn't much klefan in this one at all but since you've all been so patient the next chapter will be sealed with a kiss...literally. How do you like that? ;)


	13. XIII

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

Warning: There's a bit of kissing at the end, nothing too heavy, just a heads up ;)

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>Stefan was surprised actually that the original vampire hadn't attacked him immediately after waking. Then again he assumed the brunette had retained the memories of his last moments in life and knew that it was Klaus who had betrayed him, not their little group of supernaturals.<p>

He couldn't help but feel the guilt clenching in his chest at the thought of Klaus and exactly how mad the original was going to be when he found out what Stefan had done. He was in no way assuming the hybrid would understand. More than likely he would be furious and would act first, ask questions later – if he asked them at all.

He couldn't help but feel he might have done something that while helping the others put himself in a position worse off than before, but there was nothing to be done about it now and the newly awakened original was staring at him expectantly, eyes darting to the dagger held loosely in his hand. Stefan tightened his grip, no way were they losing that dagger.

"Why did you awaken me? If Klaus has succeeded I cannot help you." The undead aristocrat spoke delicately and Stefan snorted at the level-headed sibling.

"I'm not going to ask you to kill Klaus." Elijah stared at him seriously for a minute as if contemplating whether or not he was telling the truth. Stefan had decided way ahead of time that he was not going to inform Elijah that they needed the dagger because he doubted that he would be okay with the stabbing of his sister that they were planning so diligently.

"We have a bigger problem." He stepped back as the original stood, looking at him curiously and Stefan fought the urge to exclaim 'I know right, bigger than Klaus?'. He measured his next words carefully, keeping a watchful eye on Elijah's facial expression. "Mikael has been awakened."

And there it was, that flash of recognition that was buried so fast you'd second guess you ever saw it in the first place, but Stefan had seen it on too many members of this family by now and he was beginning to get frustrated with their unwillingness to share on what the big issue was.

"And Elena?" The original asked evenly and Stefan crossed his arms, replying in the same tone. "Alive."

"And you...don't want to kill Klaus?" The original arched an elegant eyebrow and Stefan groaned. You could be out of the loop for a few months in this town and it would take forever to explain everything. Not to mention the numerous dilemmas that seemed to occur all at once – the Klaus/hybrid thing with the added bonus of Rebekah, which of course led into the Mikael thing and on top of that the seemingly unrelated dead people coming back to life thing.

Damn, did he wish he was never born in this town.

"Klaus and I...have an understanding." Coincidently his phone began to ring just as he'd finished his sentence and he winced knowing it could only be one person. He checked the caller ID and it confirmed his fears. Elijah studied him silently as he raised the phone to his ear.

"Klaus." He rasped, suddenly more nervous than he'd ever been.

"Stefan." The hybrid's voice drawled down the line and god had he missed that accent. Why didn't he pay attention to that normally? It was so...

"What's up?" He choked out, closing his eyes to the brunette in front of him as he gulped. Shit. He knew. There was a slight pause before Klaus responded but it left no doubt in Stefan's mind that he knew, if not what exactly he'd done then he knew it was something he wouldn't be pleased with. In any case, the hybrid was not happy.

"Please tell me you haven't done anything...stupid." He spat the last word and Stefan winced.

"Of course not," he tried to reply evenly. "What do you mean?"

"Stefan!" Klaus all but groaned in a frustrated manner and he frowned, feeling guilty once again. "What did you do?" The hybrid asked again and Stefan bit his lip, a habit that had just recently appeared but he couldn't seem to shake.

"Nothing Klaus, don't worry." He hoped his voice gave nothing away but he knew that Klaus could read him like a book, even over the phone so his chances were slim at best. In a last ditch attempt to change the subject he shot back, "where are you anyway?"

"It's hard not to worry about you Stefan." It was muttered so low that the for a second he thought maybe he'd imagined it. "It doesn't matter where I am." The hybrid answered, stronger now.

"Yes," Stefan insisted, "It does!" He ran a hand through his hair all too aware of Elijah's gaze burning into him. He sighed angrily at the silence on the other end of the call. "Look," he took a deep breath in, calming himself, "it doesn't matter, just come ho-...come back soon." He pressed the end call button hard, barely believing what had nearly slipped from his mouth.

His lowered gaze shot up as Elijah finally commented from his place near the couch. "You're different." He had been studying him inquisitively but now he just seemed even more intrigued. "And he's different...with you." The brunette moved toward him, head tilted. "Are you two-,"

"No." Stefan cut him off abruptly. He had a pretty good idea of what Elijah was going to ask and he cursed these originals for being so damned _perceptive_. He wasn't ready to label whatever he and Klaus might have had, friendship, camaraderie or else, so there was no way he was going to drop everything to share stories with the other vampire.

The look the older brunette sent him screamed 'I don't believe you' much to Stefan's dismay. "Look," he said reasonably, "Elena and the others will be home soon so just stay here and when they get back they'll explain everything."

The original sent him a calculated look, no doubt weighing up his options but nodded anyway, taking a seat back on the couch and crossing his legs pointedly. Stefan could imagine a little clock ticking above his head saying, 'waiting impatiently'.

"Right, I'll be back." He said as a parting statement and made his way quickly to the boarding house where the rest of the group were sure to be gathered. He may have told the original he'd be back but really, he thought he'd just leave it to the others, it was their problem anyway.

He entered and went straight to the living room, seeing the group gathered together. Damon, Elena, Jeremy and Bonnie were present, along with Caroline and Alaric. He looked to the staircase pointedly and Damon shook his head. "She's at the dog's place." He sent a smarmy look at Caroline at that and the blonde only stayed silent, looking less than impressed.

"Alright," Bonnie said, standing up and clapping her hands, "now that Stefan's here we can get started. Elena, make the call."

His eyes widened and he held up his hands in a placating motion. "Woah, woah." His eyes darted around the people present, they'd already figured out a plan? "What's going on?"

Damon rolled his eyes, "What you don't trust us?" At Stefan's deadpan look he continued. "Elena's going to call the blonde bitch, get her over here and then we're going to kill her. Now hand over the dagger." As Stefan continued to look confused Caroline decided to explain further.

"Elena is going to call Rebekah and say she wants to meet with her to get her over here. Then she's going to use this to try and stab her." Caroline pointed at another dagger Bonnie had picked up from the table. "She'll then try and attack Elena thinking that Elena has the real dagger and when she does, Bonnie's going to make her even more vulnerable so Alaric can take a shot with the real one." The blonde summed it up succinctly.

Stefan shook his head. "No, it's too dangerous. Elena could get killed."

Bonnie shook her head, even as Elena snorted. "She won't risk killing Elena, Klaus needs her."

"One," Elena began, frowning at him furiously, "don't pretend you care, Stefan." She spat, "and two; I've been training with Alaric, I can handle myself."

He couldn't help but glare back at her. "I don't care?" He asked, his voice deadly, "What the hell have I been doing for the past year of my life, wasting it here with you then?" He snarled out viscously, not remembering the last time he'd been this angry with her.

"You don't care about anyone Stefan, your actions last night showed that." She pointed a finger at him furiously and he took a step forward, aware of his brother carefully watching his every move.

Damon took a step between them and Stefan lost it. "I'm a vampire!" He yelled at her. "I drink blood!" He was sick and tired of having to deal with this issue. Didn't she think it was hard for him? Didn't they think that he felt guilty? That it bothered him every second of every day? He thought they might be able to move passed this after the last couple of days, but apparently not. Apparently it was only okay when the people he killed were faceless names to her.

She would never understand.

"Stefan," Caroline pulled on his arm. "Calm down, it doesn't matter, let's just get this done." Elena looked ready to protest at her words but Damon slapped a hand over her mouth, shutting her up with a smile.

"Okay, let's get a move on." He stretched out his arm towards Stefan, "hand over the dagger and let's get this done."

He placed the knife in his brother's hand too moody to protest anymore, to be honest he was over it – he just didn't care.

"Alright people. We only have a few minutes after we make the call, so is everyone ready?" Damon asked in his usual sarcastic tone, scanning the room as if someone would protest.

"Make it quick." Stefan mumbled, "Elijah's awake."

Elena sounded convincing enough on the phone Stefan thought. She put on a good spiel about wanting to confront the blonde original about messing with Caroline and how she needed to stay away from Tyler and a bunch of other teenage drama that honestly Rebekah wouldn't be able to resist getting into a tiff over.

When she hung up the phone they stood in silence for a moment before everyone moved into their positions, praying for a plan to go smoothly for once in their lives. Elena was by the door, Alaric ducking around the corner so as not to be visible from the hallway. Bonnie was at the bottom of the staircase and Damon leaning against the wall as if to watch in interest. Caroline and Stefan hung back in the living room, out of sight.

It was all over rather quickly to be honest. Elena fired a stake from a contraption on her wrist almost immediately as the door opened, in a display of lightning fast reflexes only a human who'd been in danger far too much could accomplish. He couldn't actually see what was happening from his vantage point, only hear, but as he listened he could imagine the scene.

Elena grappling with the knife, Rebekah using her supernatural speed to knock her back against the wall in the entryway. He could actually see Bonnie by the staircase and knew from the concentrated expression on her face, eyes screwed up in focus that she was working magic. The groan from Rebekah confirmed his suspicions and he could imagine her battling uselessly for control against Elena who was moving at her with a dagger she assumed could kill her, while at the same time gripping her head in pain.

Then it stopped. She had been too caught up in the dual threat of Bonnie's powerful magic and Elena's movements with the fake dagger to catch Alaric creeping up behind her with the real one, moving with silence only a true vampire hunter could display.

He heard clapping and knew it was probably Damon, prepared to be an asshole about it now that the immediate threat had passed. He and Caroline walked into the hallway to find the scene by the door exactly as he'd imagined it and Rebekah in a grey and wrinkled mess heap on the floor.

He moved forward to pick her up and strode out the door without a word, feeling the eyes of the others burning into his back. Let them think what they wanted he didn't care anymore. He was sick of doing things that compromised his position with Klaus to save their asses. After all what if Klaus was that mad about their little sibling switch he ripped Stefan's head off for it? He didn't think that was a possibility, but they didn't know Klaus as well as him so they couldn't assume that. It made him feel bitter towards all of them.

He was taking Rebekah back to where Klaus kept the rest of the family cargo. He'd found Elijah in the back of a semi in Bonnie's mapped location, with the rest of his family, all the coffins lined up in a row. There were two compelled humans there at all times but they weren't hard to slip passed unnoticed – they were humans after all. He was sure that eventually when he turned more Klaus would replace them with sired hybrids, ever loyal to him.

He frowned for a second, the thought crossing his mind that when the hybrid did turn more of his own kind he wouldn't need Stefan to be his wingman anymore. After all, why would he want someone that could make his own choices? Who could disobey him – which was exactly what he'd just proven by his actions while Klaus was gone – that he could and would betray him.

No, he thought as he lay Rebekah's body down in her personal coffin, closing the lid and hoping if Klaus visited the trailer on his way back to Mystic Falls he wouldn't notice the difference. No. Klaus would still want Stefan by his side. He _liked_ Stefan, he had to. The reason he and Klaus had gotten on swimmingly in the twenties was because they were like magnets – opposites working in tandem, irrefutably drawn to each other. Stefan had been the first person to like and respect the hybrid for who he was upon meeting him – to not think him a freak. He'd told him he was a king and he meant it.

Klaus had always been considered a freak of nature by his family, that was why he resented them; or at least that was what Stefan had gathered from the second-hand information of others, Klaus would never outright talk about it. He was only half-siblings with the rest of the originals, the product of an affair and his hybrid status was a constant and everlasting reminder to his step-father of his late mother's infidelity.

Klaus would keep him around because for hundreds of years he'd been looking for something to cure his loneliness – and Stefan was it.

He nearly left the truck when a thought struck him. As unhappy as Klaus was bound to be now he would be even more furious with him if Stefan left his family in a location known to Bonnie and the rest of the group from Mystic Falls – especially with Elijah now awakened. He would have to kill the guards and compel two new ones as he would be unable to override Klaus' own compulsion. A waste but it couldn't be helped – he had to do what was necessary and it wasn't like Klaus would have left them alive anyway right?

He decides on Maryland as a new location: far enough away to be a safe distance if Elijah and the others decide to go looking but close enough to be within safe reach for them when Klaus came back. He decided on three human guards in the end and his recent binge of fresh human blood ensured that his mind control would stay intact.

It was a relief he thought as he began the journey back to Mystic Falls, not to have to worry about Rebekah anymore. Though he felt a bigger weight settling on his shoulders at the thought of Klaus' imminent return. He couldn't for the life of him imagine how their next meeting would go, he didn't know what the hybrid would do or how he would react.

He didn't head back to the boarding house, not quite prepared for the company of others yet. There was a small stream in the forest that led off the falls that Mystic Falls got their name from. He and Damon used to come here all the time when they were younger and he'd been back quite a few times since when he needed time on his own.

He pulled out his phone as he sat down on a rock debating whether or not to dial. As usual it was as if there wasn't ever a choice, why did he even bother thinking about it?

His call was answered after one ring. "Stefan."

"Klaus," he started flatly, wondering why the hell he was doing this. He shouldn't feel guilty for anything anyway – much less want to fix it at his own expense! "I..." He trailed off, chickening out at the last second. "Are you on your way back?"

There was shuffling on the other end of the line before the hybrid finally replied. "Now I know that's not why you called me Stefan." He said wryly. "And don't you _dare_ hang up on me again." Great, the dangerous tone emerges, he mentally groaned. If Klaus was already angry over that the chances of Stefan making things any better with his latest stuff up were abysmal.

"You're going to be mad." Stefan groaned aloud this time the moment the words left his mouth. Why did he say that? What was the point in making an angry hybrid furious? He didn't know what it was about Klaus but even when he wasn't there Stefan would blurt out what was on his mind without a thought – a deficiency in his brain to mouth filter.

"I'm already mad Stefan," Klaus reasoned, "you hung up on me twice."

Okay. Let it be known that the most powerful supernatural being in the world doesn't like being hung up on. Ever.

"Just tell me what you did Stefan, it'll make it a lot easier on all of us." He drawled when the ripper stayed silent.

This was a bad idea and Stefan knew it. When he refused to say a word again the hybrid continued incredulously, "it can't be that bad?" It was a question, not a statement and Stefan winced.

"It's...fixable." He struggled. Which was true. Klaus could just do a dagger swap again if it concerned him that much but honestly, he was hoping that the original wouldn't care too much. He might be a little irritated in a possessive way because they were his family but they also weren't really dead...permanently anyway.

He huffed, angry with himself. "'m sorry." He muttered gruffly, quietly.

There was a pause from the other end before a reluctant, "sit tight Stefan." and then dial tone. Stefan hunched over from his seat on a rock by the water's edge, running his finger's through his hair roughly.

"Thought I'd find you here." He was startled by the voice from behind him and nearly toppled head first into the stream. He span quickly to find his brother standing behind him looking comfortable, arms crossed over his chest.

Stefan remained silent, turning back to the water. He didn't know why his brother wanted to talk to him now but he didn't really care at the moment. He hadn't exactly been acting like family since Stefan arrived back in Mystic Falls and he mostly wanted to put that down to Elena. But still, it was disappointing.

"He sounds different with you." Damon commented and Stefan flopped to the ground in defeat staring at the sky. It would be just his luck that Damon would come along at just the right moment to catch his conversation with Klaus.

His brother came to sit next to him and he replied, figuring this was a conversation he wasn't going to get out of. "We have travelled together for months." He settled for an even tone and an average excuse and was surprised when Damon let the subject drop. Clearly he had a reason for coming out to talk to Stefan that was more pressing.

"Katherine called."

So that was it, Stefan reasoned. Mikael was up and running? He waited for Damon to continue. "It's strange," his older brother went on, "the old guy doesn't eat human blood, refuses to. But he also doesn't eat animals."

Stefan frowned, wondering where this was going. What could he possibly eat then? Voicing his question out loud, Damon kept him in suspense before replying. "Us. He eats us." Stefan's eyes widened and his brother continued, "He drinks from vampires." The frown and disgusted tone made Stefan look away quickly. He felt the remenants of last nights blood rushing to his cheeks. He doubted other vampires tasted as good as Klaus anyway.

He noticed Damon give a sharp look at that and so he changed the subject quickly. "So, we have a big problem on our hands then?" He wasn't sure actually whether this was better or worse for them.

"More than one!" Damon frowned, "while we were taking care of your little girlfriend did everyone forget that I was getting beaten up by dead people?"

Stefan shook his head, kicking his feet off the ledge above the stream. "This town..."

Damon sighed. "I haven't had time to ask witchy about it yet either."

Stefan looked over, catching his brother's eyes. "There's something else," he said and he was positive he was right. "Something else is bothering you."

"What?" Damon replied quickly, too quickly. "No..."

"Come on, Damon." He began, "I'm your brother."

Ice blue eyes caught his hesitantly and Stefan braced himself. Something his brother was hesitant to talk about must be big and if he didn't want to mention it to Stefan then it mustn't bode well for him.

"I...I have feelings for Elena."

Was that all? He could tell Damon wasn't expecting the easy tone in which he replied simply, "I know."

"No, no," his brother raised his hands, waving them from side to side, "you don't understand! There's something there Stefan, on both sides."

He sighed, leaning back on his elbows and looking up at the sky. "I _know_, Damon. She wouldn't have kissed you otherwise." He rolled his eyes, glancing over to see his brother's jaw drop with shock.

"I'm not going to pretend to understand, but it's okay. If you want my blessing, fine, you got it." He raised an eyebrow. "But she won't like you feeding from humans." He muttered, not trying to be a buzz kill but he couldn't in good conscience let his brother go after something he may never be able to fully have.

"I can feed from blood bags for the remainder of her human life. It's a blink to us, Stef." He didn't comment but took note of the exact words his brother had used. Her _human_ life. He planned on turning her eventually, on spending eternity with her. That was something Stefan never would have done and he smiled a little, it showed at least that this time around would be different, it would not be a repeat of his relationship with her.

"You deserve someone like her Damon." He whispered, closing his eyes. It hurt less than he thought it would to let her go.

They sat in silence for a minute before Damon finally spoke again. "Do you think you'll stay here? When this is over?"

He looked over to find an inquisitive stare and he sighed. "No." He answered honestly. "When he leaves, I'll go with him." Neither needed to voice who 'he' was.

His brother stared. "But...why?" He seemed to already know that would be the answer but he still had to ask, had to know.

There was silence between them for a minute before Stefan finally replied. "Damon, I...I _feel_ things for him." When his brother failed to produce an astonished look he frowned.

In a rare gentle moment Damon reached out to put a hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly for a second. "You forget Stefan, I'm your brother too."

He couldn't help himself. He launched into an explanation about the twenties and the compulsion and everything that had happened to him, everything he'd been feeling up until now, minus a few intimate moments including the exchanges of blood. He explained about what had happened at Mystic Falls High the night that Damon had been out of town with Katherine and the necklace and Damon stopped him suddenly.

"Wait, there's something you should know." Stefan looked up at his older brother with a frown once more, wondering where this was going, he was expecting a little more incredulity not acceptance and a sudden epiphany.

"I spoke to Isobel once...about the switch." At Stefan's wide eyed look Damon rolled his eyes, "yes, that Isobel and yes, that switch." He huffed as Stefan opened his mouth as if to speak. "Let me finish! Isobel said the switch is a myth...that it doesn't exist. That after a while you can't help but feel anyway."

It all made sense in a way, every thought Stefan had ever had about the switch, about his guilt, his feelings...about Klaus. It all came together.

"We're just like humans." He whispered, shocked. They were just like everybody else. Outside of their bloodlust they felt, just like every other person on the planet. It was all a myth. Made up. Make believe.

"Look," Damon broke through his thoughts abruptly, "I just thought you should know." He said apologeticly.

Stefan nodded absent-mindedly. He was grateful to know, that much he was sure of. Did Klaus know? He'd have to. But if so, why not tell him? Why make such a big deal out of it? He claimed that he wanted to compel Stefan to help him, so he didn't feel the guilt that humanity burdened him with, but was it even possible if the switch didn't in fact exist in the first place?

Was Klaus trying to help him, to fix him anyway because he knew that Stefan couldn't do it, couldn't turn it off on his own?

"So," Damon began awkwardly, "If you're okay with me and Elena, could you maybe patch things up with her?"

Stefan looked up, feeling grumpy at that. "She doesn't want to speak to me, Damon. And to be honest if she can't accept that I'm a vampire then I don't think I want to speak to her either."

Damon gave him a look and Stefan knew he was going to eventually cave. He didn't want to give in but looking into determined azure eyes he knew he wasn't going to have a choice. What else was this hellish day going to throw at him?

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><p>Stefan groaned as he collapsed onto his bed, not bothering with changing out of his jeans or t-shirt or pulling the covers up. He was exhausted. While a third screaming match with Elena today ended in a compromise and they parted on good terms it had left him absolutely exhausted and after this hell of a day he really needed a minute to catch his breath.<p>

They had agreed to disagree until this whole thing had blown over. She had been in tears and the whole argument had begun with screaming at each other and ended with her clutching his shirt, hugging him for all he was worth. She hadn't let him go for what seemed like forever and Stefan didn't know how to take that. He was crossing his fingers for acceptance though.

Elena, while a bit offended and more than a little distraught that he knew and had for a while that she and Damon had something between them, had eventually taken his blessing in stride with a watery smile and a thanks.

He breathed in deeply trying to will away all the aches and pains in his body. Sighing, defeated, he heaved himself up and got to his feet, knowing he needed a hot shower and fresh clothes. He had taken barely a few steps across the silent room when he finally noticed a pair of ocean blue orbs gleaming out of the darkest corner. In seconds he was slammed unceremoniously against the wall, held up by Klaus who had a tight grip on his throat. The hybrid was furious, flecks of gold showing through in his eyes for the first time Stefan could remember. He was coughing and spluttering, trying to get a word out, anything at all.

He had thought the obvious, that Klaus knew about their little swap of daggers and was angrier than expected about it. He was a little confused when the original finally spoke. "You smell like her." He snarled, slamming Stefan's head into the wall, then dropping him to the ground where he crumpled.

"Like who?" He rasped out and immediately regretted it.

"The doppelgänger." Klaus hissed. "Don't get comfortable Stefan, you're not staying here." The hybrid glared fiercely, "when I leave, you leave – and don't even _think_ about disobeying me."

"And where were _you_ the last couple of days?" Stefan asked sarcastically, getting to his feet, one hand still rubbing his throat. He was angry now. Klaus had basically left a message through Rebekah for him to protect Elena and now he was angry he was around her?

"Don't question me Stefan." The tone was flat but dangerous and the hair on the back of his neck rose.

Ignoring his instincts that warned him to just shut up already he snarked back, "like I give a shit. Why don't you just leave?" He threw an arm up, pointing toward the door. "Go make more fucking hybrids, that's all you care about anyway." He spat spitefully.

Hands pushed at his shoulders but flew off when Stefan launched forward and shoved him back.

"What the hell is _wrong_ with you?" The blonde yelled incredulously, crystal eyes darkening.

"Don't act like you care." He ground out lowly, getting in the hybrid's space until they were almost nose to nose.

"I let you feed from me Stefan! You think that's a casual thing for me?" Klaus snarled, shoving him backwards, eyes tinting gold once more.

Stefan didn't know whether to be angry still or to be shocked that the hybrid had just inadvertently admitted that he was important to him.

"I don't know Klaus! I never know what to think with you! One minute you're saving me and the next you're this close to tearing my throat out!" He spat, holding his hand up, fingers showing a tiny space between them.

"And which would you prefer Stefan?" The original spat angrily, eyes alight as he stepped closer. "You can preach at me all you like, but you don't know what you want either!" He growled. "Nobody likes a hypocrite Stefan."

The brunette glared, if he was alive his heart would be pounding rapidly in his chest with fury. His mind was racing and suddenly the world came to a standstill and his thoughts turned to actions – consequences be damned.

"That's where you're wrong Klaus." He stated, pushing himself firmly against the hybrid, trapping the blonde between himself and the wall behind him. "I know exactly what I want." He pushed himself up and smashed his lips against the other's. If he'd thought tasting the original's blood was amazing, there were no words to describe kissing him.

When their lips met it was passionate, not soft and tender but rough – teeth scraping, lips bruising. Stefan groaned as the hybrid tangled a hand in his hair, pulling him closer and at the same time flipping them, slamming him against the wall, crumpling it from the force – plaster cracking away around his shoulders.

"Klaus." He moaned again as a warm mouth trailed open mouthed, down his neck and he automatically bared his throat. He whimpered at the feeling of fangs scraping gently across his heated flesh.

"Klaus." He pleaded again, not even knowing what he was asking for at this point. His eyes squeezed shut, every nerve in his body super-sensitive. And then the hybrids fangs sunk into his neck for a split second and his mind went blank. His hands scrambled frantically against the other's back, gripping his t-shirt, shredding it with his sharp nails.

When lips came back to meet his softly he could taste his own blood and his eyes fluttered open finally to meet ocean blue again, darkened by lust. Everything stilled and three words were whispered softly against his lips. "You're mine, Stefan."

Chest heaving as he caught his breath he couldn't think, he couldn't look away, he could only listen. "Don't forget that." All he could do was acquiesce as the hybrid pulled him toward the bed. As he was pushed backward repressed tiredness crashed down on him all of a sudden and he yawned sleepily. His hands were still wrapped in Klaus' grey shirt and he tugged, pulling him down with him. He wanted to finish what he started but while he fought it, his eyes dropped of their own accord.

"Sleep, ripper."

He may or may not have imagined feeling a possessive arm slip over his waist.

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><p><strong>AN:** So um, Y/N? I thought 45,000 words was long enough to wait for that ;) How'd I do?

How do you guys feel about the return of Elijah? He's a personal favourite of mine.


	14. XIV

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

Warning: There's some making out and allusions to sex, nothing x-rated though, just a heads up (:

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>Stefan woke slowly to the morning light streaming in through his open window, the sun's bright rays spilling over his pillows and highlighting Klaus' blond locks – the hybrid's form sprawled next to him, breathing deeply in sleep. He wondered briefly how someone so dangerous could look so peaceful and smiled slightly, remembering the events of the night before.<p>

It was strange that he had woken before the hybrid, he thought, propping himself up on one elbow. He must have been somewhere far from Mystic Falls to be this exhausted. Stefan wondered for a moment whether Klaus was more prone to tiredness now? He'd always assumed that being a hybrid, the best of both worlds made him more powerful, but maybe it just made him closer to human? Then again he'd always needed less sleep than Stefan when they were traveling in the summer.

He was startled from his thoughts by ocean blue eyes snapping open and a hand connecting with his chest, shoving him backwards, flat against the bed as Klaus sprang into action, placing himself between Stefan and whatever it was he was glaring at across the room.

"Hello brother."

Stefan's eyes widened as he realised who the silky voice belonged to, eyes flickering to the shadowed corner of the room, gaping at the sight of Elijah leaning casually against his bedroom wall, looking quite comfortable. He wondered how long he'd been there and was torn between feeling fear that Klaus would obviously know what he'd done and anger that Elijah had ruined what had the potential to be the perfect morning.

Stefan groaned thinking of the things they could have done had Elijah not been there. He could have finished what he started last night for one.

Klaus' gaze trailed slowly from Elijah's casual, very _alive_ form to Stefan's face and he tried for a small smile. "Surprise?" He muttered wryly, covering his face with his hands.

Elijah is watching on silently and a glint enters Klaus' eyes and he glares at his brother. He turned to Stefan calmly, connecting the original's sudden appearance to their phone conversation yesterday. "And why, my ripper would you need to revive Elijah?" There's an edge in his voice that makes Stefan shiver and he pushes back the urge to pout in hopes of getting out of this without an explanation.

"I needed the dagger." He sighed brushing Klaus' hand off and sitting up, watching as Klaus' gaze hardened in recognition. Elijah looked at him sharply at that but still didn't comment. Stefan was more concerned with the look on Klaus' face. He'd been sure the original wouldn't mind, but now...

"Where's Rebekah?" The blonde asked casually and Stefan winced.

"Rebekah?" Elijah finally took a moment to speak, taking a step forward inquisitively at his sister's name, but Klaus' gaze never left Stefan's face.

"She's with the rest of them." He answered quietly, closing his eyes and waiting for the imminent explosion.

"She's what?" He growls and his voice is deadly. He doesn't dare open his eyes and the hair on the back of his neck raises as he imagines the million ways this could go. A snap of the neck, a hand tearing into his chest...

"Rebekah was alive?" When he opens his eyes it's to look at Elijah, avoiding Klaus' gaze completely. He let's out a slow nod and barely has a chance to process the blur of speed in front of him before a hand is around his throat, raising him up against the wall. He barely has the chance to splutter before the pressure's released and he falls back to the bed, gasping for air.

Klaus is in front of him, his brother's arm in a death grip, their glares locked, each waiting for the other to back down. Elijah grudgingly takes a step back, waiting for the hybrid to loosen his grip.

"_Don't_ touch him." The words are hissed and the room falls into an uneasy silence as the hybrid still fails to loosen his grip on his Elijah's wrist.

"Klaus." Stefan moves forward slowly, not wanting to startle either into doing something they'll regret. He lays a hand on Klaus' arm, squeezing gently. He watched the blonde's jaw clench tightly before he slowly released his grip.

"Look, this is my fault." He holds up both his hands in a placating gesture. "Rebekah was being unnecessarily...bitchy." He hesitates before the last word, but he can't think of any other way to explain himself. "So I figured, hey, why not swap them over and when you get back you can decide which one you want." He winced, knowing as soon as he was finished that that definitely had _not_ come out right.

"Stefan," Klaus said through clenched teeth, "they're my _siblings_, not _toys_."

Stefan fought the urge to roll his eyes. So only Klaus could bully his brothers and sisters? Right. "Well I didn't know when you'd be home." He tried desperately to sound like he wasn't whining and belatedly realised what he'd just said. Home. Could nothing go right this morning?

"Where are they?" Elijah asks steadily, interrupting their conversation and Stefan counted himself lucky he wouldn't have to address his latest slip, though the look on Klaus' face told him it had been caught.

"They're safe." He answered, more to Klaus than Elijah so the hybrid would understand that they were not where he left them.

"Look," Stefan looked between them both, "You can both be angry at me later but right now we have bigger problems."

He received a steady look from Klaus, the hybrid sending a message that this was far from over. He had to ignore the sinking feeling in his chest, last night had been amazing. He knew what he wanted and the kiss...the kiss had only confirmed that. But he was bound to screw it up eventually right? Better now than later on he supposed, before he got himself in too deep.

He turned to meet their inquisitive looks, ignoring the voice in his head telling him that he was already in far, far too deep, that he'd already ruined what could have been the best thing in his unlife before it had even begun. "Mikael is on his way here," He stated before sarcastically continuing, "and apparently he eats vampires!" He gave them a mock-shocked look, pretending to take no notice of Klaus' unimpressed expression. "So I know you guys don't care to share, but you kind of have to now. Or we're all going to die." He added the end part seriously because honestly if they didn't share what they knew now? They were up shit creek without a paddle.

Well he wasn't. He was pretty sure Klaus would take him and run – and wasn't it strange the he just _knew _ the hybrid would protect him? But the various supernatural inhabitants of Mystic Falls would be screwed (for lack of a better term) and he had actually taken quite a liking to some of them.

"And!" He continued quickly as Elijah opened his mouth to comment, "dead people are coming back to life, ghosts taking corporeal form etcetera, all thanks to the original witch." He summed up, smiling sarcastically again, noting Klaus' look of disinterest.

"Easily fixed Stefan, we get out of this god forsaken town." Klaus murmured in the same sarcastic tone, knowing it was the last thing Stefan would agree to.

"Yeah, sure." He replied easily, fighting not to loose himself in baby blues for what seemed like the hundredth time that morning. "Except I'm pretty sure," he whispered, "that what Mikael's after, is you."

What was astonishing was watching Elijah come to his brother's rescue and it hardened Stefan's resolve that he hadn't made a terrible decision in switching this original out for his sister.

"Which dead people are coming back to life exactly?" The brunette changed the subject, arching an aristocratic brow and Stefan met his stare evenly.

"I'm sure you remember Mason Lockwood."

It was at that moment the door swung open and another figure entered his room. "Did someone say Mason Lockwood?"

Stefan gave a deadpan look at his brother's attempt at an entrance. "Have you spoken to Bonnie yet?" He couldn't be more grateful that Damon seemed to take Klaus' presence back in their house in his stride, not taking any opportunity to rock the boat.

"Why yes, I have seen witchy." His older brother stopped for a moment to nod to Klaus before turning to the other vampire present in the room. "Elijah." He greeted evenly and Stefan watched as an indecipherable look passed between the two.

"So?" Klaus asked impatiently, "is it that damned original witch or not?" Stefan fought the urge to place an arm over the hybrid's shoulders knowing that this morning had not made for a very good mood on Klaus' part.

"Yes." Damon answered, seemingly deciding not to beat around the bush for once in his life. "Bennett says that when she sent Vicki back to the 'other side'," he raised his hands in a voodoo gesture, waving spirit fingers. "That the original witch used it to open up the 'door'." There were air quotes again.

"Yes, yes, so how do we stop her?" Klaus prodded impatiently and Stefan didn't know whether it would be appropriate to laugh at the indignant look on his brother's face. The original witch was obviously as big of a sore spot for Klaus as the doppelgänger was.

"I'm getting there," Damon replied snarkily, rolling his eyes at the hybrid's glare. "Apparently she's using power from our world via the necklace. Yes, Stefan," he answered as his brother's eyes widened, "_the_ necklace."

Both the originals spun to look at him then and Stefan groaned mentally, woeful that Klaus had been reminded of that little lie that had torn everything down.

At Klaus' glare he spoke quickly, lips falling into a pout. "So we have to destroy it? That's okay right, because you have it." He gaped at the blank look on his brother's face. "Damon!"

"I had it!" He raised his arms up, "I got it back from Katherine and I hid it...in the bathroom in that soap bowl!"

Stefan wasn't the only one who groaned at that. "You seriously don't have any better hiding spots than your damned soap bowl?" He glared across at his brother.

"Well, it's not like Katherine took it!" There was a collective sigh of relief at that reminder and Stefan ran a hand through his hair frustratedly, a habit he'd been indulging far too often lately.

"Fine." He muttered, "we'll deal with that first." Stefan directed his brother, "go with Elijah and find Alaric – enlist his help. Klaus and I will go and see Bonnie, see what we can do."

Thankfully both vampires agreed without protest and Stefan groaned, closing his eyes, rubbing his face tiredly as they left. He nearly jumped when he felt hands on his hips.

"You're forgetting something Stefan." Hot breath blew over his ear and he leaned back into Klaus' grip, sighing.

"I already told you I was sorry," he murmured, though honestly he didn't regret what he'd done, only that it had angered Klaus. "They're in Maryland." He whispered, still cautious though he knew nobody else was within hearing range.

He was suddenly deathly afraid once again that Klaus would decide he didn't want Stefan as a wingman anymore, after all he could make hybrids now. Maybe he would just take Tyler and leave? After all he wouldn't want to face Mikael if he was coming here and Stefan wasn't ready to run away just yet. He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, and within seconds he was turned to face the hybrid.

He could feel Klaus' body heat, he was so warm and for a minute Stefan wanted to let himself go and just lean into him once again. Absurdly, he really just wanted a hug. He allowed his thoughts to catch up to him though and his fear returned, shining through as he stared up at Klaus with worried eyes.

The hybrid didn't say anything, just continued to stare and Stefan felt like he was crumbling. He pulled himself from the hybrid's hold, taking a few steps away to face the wall, not wanting Klaus to see what would be written all over his face.

"Tyler's adjusting." He tried to sound casual. "Caroline said Rebekah was helping him so you might want to go and check on him now that she's unavailable." He tensed when Klaus didn't answer and Stefan was hyper aware of the footsteps drawing closer again across the room.

"Green doesn't suit you Stefan." It was whispered in his ear, in that enticing accent and Stefan almost groaned as he was turned to face him. Arms wound around his waist and pulled him closer, he had barely a moment to think before Klaus' warm lips were crushed against his. He couldn't bring himself to feel embarrassed at the fact that the hybrid had seen through him so clearly, all that mattered was that Klaus was kissing him and _he_ had initiated it. _Klaus_ was kissing _him_.

All too quickly it was over and he moaned. "Klaus," he tried to pull the blonde back in.

"Stefan," the hybrid groaned, "if you start this..."

He could fill the end of that sentence in on his own and surged forward, pulling Klaus' grey shirt up and over his head. He was pushed back onto the bed at supernatural speed and he groaned as the blonde's hands pushed up under his shirt before ripping it off completely.

"God, Klaus." He groaned out loud. "Wanted you for so long." And wasn't that the truth. He wasn't going to regret this. It wasn't spur of the moment, a sudden onslaught of passion. This had been building for months, he had wanted this for weeks. After last night they were finally on the same page and now that they were alone – there was no way Stefan was waiting any longer to have him.

He panted as the hybrid pushed open mouthed kisses down his neck, scraping fangs along his throat teasingly in a way he knew drove Stefan crazy. He growled, pulling Klaus back up by his hair, reattaching their lips. The hybrid humored him, but never once was Stefan in control.

Stefan had been with men before, when you're going to live forever petty human prejudices don't mean much. But whenever he had, they had always been human, never a vampire and he'd always been the one in control. This, whatever this was with Klaus, was completely new. Giving up the control to someone else, being dominated – it was a rush to his vampire side. There was something in the fact that the man hovering over him was the most powerful creature on this Earth. He found he liked it when Klaus took control, made him submit, dominated him.

He'd sat at the top of the food chain with every relationship he'd had since he'd been turned – he'd always taken the lead...until now.

He struggled uselessly to contain the whimper building in his throat. As a knee found it's way between his legs and a hand found it's way passed his jeans he knew they weren't going to be helping the others anytime soon. And honestly? He didn't care. There was no way he was giving up a chance he'd waited well over half a century for.

There had been a time in the past few weeks when Stefan thought it was just the blood, that it was only the blood he was addicted to. But he was wrong, what he was addicted to was Klaus.

He looked into turquoise eyes, darkened and clouded over with lust and he knew there was something there, something tangible and Stefan felt sure that if he could reach out and touch it, he could change things.

His hips thrust upward of their own accord and he lost all sense of time.

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><p>Stefan didn't know what to be more embarrassed about – the fact that he and Klaus had missed the lantern festival and all the days goings on with it (including the destruction of the corporeal ghosts) or the fact that Damon and Elijah seemed to know <em>why <em>they'd missed it.

He was aching actually as everyone piled into the boarding house living room and not for the first time he regretted his house becoming the supernatural meeting point that it now was. He saw Klaus smirking from the corner of his eye as they settled into the couch and his arm flew out to hit the hybrid. He should have known he wouldn't get away with it.

Stefan huffed as his wrist was thrown back to him, refusing to look at the original. He'd really done a number on him, enough that if Stefan had fed recently, he'd still be blushing just thinking about it. He was annoyed at being pulled out of bed to deal with more of the neverending supernatural probems that plagued them. He was tired, sore and hungry and that really just made for a cranky Stefan and he was now seriously doubting his friendship with Caroline since she and Bonnie had decided his house needed to be filled to the brim with the riff raff group of teenagers.

He wondered what the problem could possibly be? Damon, Elijah and Alaric had returned first and had been in the middle of explaining how Anna had taken but returned the necklace, when Ric's phone rang and they'd all been informed to sit tight. A little disgruntled at being told what to do in his own home, Damon had reluctantly continued to fill them in on Bonnie destroying the necklace and ridding them of the tomb vampires who'd gone on a founder-killing bender.

As people began to filter into the house beginning with Bonnie and ending with Elena; Stefan sighed in exhaustion. "I'm really hungry." He elaborated at their inquisitive looks and couldn't resist adding, "I'm actually disappointed I missed the lantern festival – there would have been people everywhere...lots to eat."

Klaus' deep chuckle resonated from beside him, but the rest of the room were still frozen in shock, all too aware of the little family on the edge of town he'd taken out the night before last. He sobered quickly, "Kidding, kidding." He raised his hands, grimacing.

Elena, Bonnie and Jeremy continued to gape and Stefan looked around to the others wondering what he'd done. It was then he realised that they weren't gaping at him, but at the hybrid sitting calmly beside him. "Oh!" He exclaimed, seeing what was going on now. "Yeah, Klaus is back now." He added nonchalantly, watching their mouths snap shut and everyone look away as if trying to avoid offending Klaus, which he supposed they probably were. Awkward.

"You know," Elena began, "Lexi was one of the ghosts that was hanging around."

Stefan's head shot up at that – why would Lexi contact Elena out of everyone? Why not come to him?

"She said you were busy." Elena continued, as if sensing his thoughts, "so she had to come to me instead."

Stefan looked at the floor, at the doorway – anywhere but Elena, the situation growing increasingly awkward as the others caught onto the fact that there had to be a pretty good reason he wasn't helping them out today considering Rebekah was now out of the way.

He cleared his throat, "what did she say?"

"She said..." Elena seemed to hesitate, "She said the twenties and thirties were the hardest for you and now she knew why. She also said she didn't approve of your diet, but that she understood." Elena seemed uncomfortable at that. She wouldn't have understood the meaning in the message and no doubt wouldn't agree with it anyway, but it meant the world to him that she'd passed it along regardless.

Knowing that Lexi had seen everything though...that was hard. She was one of the only people in the world he never wanted to disappoint. Just knowing that she would disapprove had been half of the torture of the human blood diet for him.

Damon saw his brother's discomfort and stepped in to change the subject, no doubt feeling awkwardly guilty seeing as he had been the blonde girl's killer. "So, what's this meeting for witchy? We didn't need to meet straight away to catch up on ghostly last words and crap."

Typical Damon sarcasm but it works brilliantly to deflect attention.

The dark skinned girl glared at his brother before turning to face away from him, addressing the rest of the group. "The necklace was destroyed, the ghosts were sent back, everything was good, right?" She watched as they nodded before she spoke again. "But then..." She trailed off, holding up a hand, letting a pendant drop, keeping a tight grip on the chain it was hanging from.

There was silence. Suddenly Klaus rose, striding over to the witch and snatching the pendant from her hand. She skittered back a few steps, scrunching her eyes shut – seeming ready to inflict one of her vampire anyerisms when Klaus spoke.

"Interesting." He turned the locket over in his hand and seemed to be studying it intently when it flew from his grip and back into Bonnie's. He looked up at her, annoyed and she stared.

"I didn't do that."

His eyes narrowed at her declaration and he nodded, moving back to reclaim his spot next to Stefan. "No, you didn't." He agreed. "It's the original witch's doing, she doesn't like me." He muttered bitterly and they were all reminded just how his werewolf side was bound in the first place.

"So," Alaric began, stepping forward, apparently having realised at some point during the day that his anti-vampire bender was pointless in a town like Mystic Falls. "What are we going to do?"

Elijah spoke this time. "Enough power should have been able to destroy the necklace, should it not?" He looked to his brother and Stefan's gaze followed. He was surprised to see uncertainty in Klaus' expression.

"I would have thought so." The hybrid sighed and they all realised they were back at square one.

"Is the 'door' at least closed?" It was Damon who raised the question this time and he was looking at Jeremy. He spoke over the teenager's protests adding accusingly that if anyone would be able to see the dead people now, it would be him.

Jeremy was prevented from answering though as the door to the boarding house slammed open. Stefan tensed immediately as Tyler appeared from the entryway only seconds later. Worse even, the new hybrid's eyes skipped right over his girlfriend and landed instantaneously on Klaus.

Stefan's hand was gripping the arm of the lounge hard enough to tear holes in the leather and he glared darkly at the new addition, remaining deathly still in an effort to stop himself from starting a fight he didn't have the strength to win. If only he'd drank Klaus' blood today. He'd thought at the time it was a milestone. It meant that what they wanted wasn't blood, but each other.

But now – now all Stefan wanted was to rip Tyler Lockwood's eyeballs out for looking where they shouldn't be. He could practically _feel_ Klaus' amusement from beside him, the gaze boring into the side of his head and he refused to look, refused to give him the satisfaction.

He was fuming.

Caroline had started talking to the new hybrid, attempting to explain what had happened today, trying to draw his attention elsewhere. Bonnie tried to help her but they both gave up when he remained silent, only staring intently at Klaus. He took a step forward and Stefan felt his fangs descend. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this angry, this _territorial_.

Damon and Elijah had noticed the issue by now, moving forward slowly, about to intercept the Lockwood boy lest he make the fatal mistake of moving any closer to Klaus. They all stopped however when an arm descended over Stefan's shoulders, pulling him close. It was a clear statement.

"Come on, ripper. Let's go get something to eat."

Though he had relaxed at the hybrid's touch, his fangs retracting – Stefan remained tense, muscles coiled and ready to spring. Klaus pulled him to his feet, leading him around the group, but until he was out of the house and out of sight – his eyes never left Tyler Lockwood's.

They were two yards away from the boarding house before the hybrid spoke.

"Don't pick a fight with him Stefan. You won't win."

He stopped in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me." Was he seriously going to defend Tyler Lockwood? After all the shit that he'd put up with, he was being disregarded for Tyler Lockwood. He knew he was being dramatic but jesus christ, he'd slept with him! And still, all Klaus cared about was his fancy new hybrid. Stefan snorted – he should have known.

"Stefan," Klaus groaned, exasperated. "Don't be difficult."

He gaped, "You know what? Fine!" He snapped, turning to walk away from the hybrid. "If you want Tyler, fucking have Tyler." It wasn't a statement but an ultimatum and he should have known Klaus wouldn't respond to threats.

"Would you shut up for just a minute?" The original's accent came through clearer when he was angry, it was part of the reason Stefan found it so difficult to stay mad in an argument. Even now, his eyes were darting down to the blonde's full, pink lips. He couldn't help but lick his own and Klaus obviously noticed because his mouth tilted up in a smirk.

"You're insatiable Stefan."

He snarled at the teasing, pushing the hybrid away and striding off. He wasn't going to put up with Klaus teasing him when clearly all he was, was a toy. Just something to amuse him and pass the time.

"Stefan." Klaus called after him warningly and he shook his head stubbornly. He wasn't going to come running back and the hybrid wasn't going to apologize so that was it. Over and done with.

"Stefan." The blonde appeared in front of him, turquoise eyes blazing as they stood nose to nose. "Mikael...Mikael is my step father."

Stefan stumbled back, startled, gaping at the admission. "What?"

"I'm sure you know the story," Klaus drawled sarcastically. "The bastard child and all." His self-derogatory tone bothered Stefan and he stepped forward again as Klaus continued. "He killed my father and my mother for their treachery and the rest of my siblings have blamed me ever since."

The bitter admission shocked Stefan. He knew the story of course, Elijah had told it to him once upon a time, but that was before he knew Klaus, that he remembered anyway. After he had gained his memories back, the explanation made Klaus' words and actions in the twenties make a lot more sense, but he hadn't thought too much on it lately.

But Mikael? He knew he'd have to be something powerful to scare Klaus, but his step father? It explained a lot. Who he was, why he was hunting Klaus down...why everyone was too afraid to speak about him. Why was Klaus telling him this now though? Where exactly was this going?

"I've always been different." He spat, "the freak of nature." He held a hand up as Stefan began to protest. "Thousands of years, that's all anyone ever saw me as."

He wanted Klaus to stop. He knew now, he understood why he wanted more hybrids, why he _needed_ to create more, so that he wasn't the only one. He was curing his loneliness. He didn't want to hear any more, didn't want to know how Klaus hated himself, how horrible his self-perception was because of the judgement of others. He could pick Tyler, it was okay.

"But then," the hybrid continued, a finger tracing Stefan's jawline. "Then I met someone." Stefan raised distraught eyes to meet ocean blue. "In a bar, in the nineteen twenties." Stefan's heart clenched at this. "And he forced me to believe that I wasn't an abomination. That I was a king."

It was as much of a heartfelt confession or an apology as he was ever going to get.

"I don't give a shit about Tyler, Stefan." The hybrid said blandly and Stefan choked out a miserable laugh.

He let out a half hearted smile, knowing he'd let his jealousy get the best of him, but it had worked out in his favour this time. "Good," he said firmly, secretly enjoying the warmth of the hand still on his jaw, "because ripper's don't share."

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><p><strong>AN: **I don't know, but I honestly think given his past that Klaus would be attracted to the fact that someone actually seems to love him as he is and would hold onto that with everything he has, regardless of whether he's showing a little bit of emotion or not.

What do you think?

Yes, you're so right! / No, you've got him all wrong!


	15. XV

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>"I have a question for you." He glared as Klaus rolled his eyes. In all honesty Stefan thought he could get used to this – waking up next to Klaus.<p>

At the wave of the original's hand he continued, rolling onto his stomach, propping himself up on his elbow. "If Mikael's just an original, then why haven't you just killed him already?"

He thought for a minute, when he was met with silence, that maybe he was a little out of line. Should he really be questioning Klaus any more about his step-father (which still sounded a little too weird to say out loud)? He was lucky to know what he did now, in fact he still couldn't fathom the fact that Klaus had shared something so personal. Usually a confession like that from the hybrid was in lieu of an apology or something similar. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part, but Stefan thought that it was a little too big of a confession to be just another apology.

But what was he saying? Klaus rarely showed his feelings at all, let alone regretted or apologised for anything. Every ounce of emotion that wasn't negative from him was a big deal.

"Seriously, Stefan?" The original replied lazily, his tone assuring Stefan that yes, that was a stupid question to ask. "The dagger doesn't work." He rolled his eyes as Stefan opened his mouth to reply, holding up a hand. "And before you ask, no I don't know why."

He closed his mouth with a click, brow furrowing. So Mikael maybe wasn't just another original? Maybe he was an original original? Stefan shook his head at his ridiculous thoughts, there couldn't be that many mutated strains of supernatural creatures out there right?

"Well maybe we could-." He was cut off again by a loud sigh from the blonde next to him.

"Shut up Stefan." Klaus groaned resolutely, rolling off to the side to rise from the bed. "Don't you think if there was a way I would have found it by now?"

Stefan considered that for a moment. Yes, Klaus had been alive for hundreds of years so yeah, he supposed that the hybrid probably wouldn't still be running if there was a way to dispose of this guy. And more than just being indisposable, the vampire was probably more dangerous than anyone they'd faced if he had managed to incite the small flicker of fear that Stefan remembered from Klaus' eyes in the 1920's.

"You're right, sorry." He sat up, pulling on a pair of jeans from the bag next to his bed. He'd been back in Mystic Falls for how long? And still hadn't managed to unpack. "So..." he continued, Ignoring Klaus' usual morning attitude of 'I'm too tired to put up with your questions'. "What's the plan of action? Get a witch to entomb him again?"

He crossed the room to the blonde, eyes trailing down his spine, tracing the muscles in the pale white skin of his back. He reached an arm around around the hybrid's waist, pulling him back tightly against him. He was disappointed when his arms were slapped roughly away. Stefan was a tactile person, even as the ripper he was always touching, a hand on a waist, an arm around a shoulder. From small gestures to things like hugs he generally couldn't contain himself, he supposed that was part of the reason he and Elena had meshed so well.

Staring into irritated, ocean blue eyes he resisted the urge to reach out again.

"Do you have any idea how long it took to entomb him the first time? Do you realise you actually have to incapacitate him first?" As Klaus spoke it dawned on Stefan that perhaps the hybrid had been finally enjoying a period of peace from the nineteen ninety's until now. If he had been running from Mikael all of his life until then, then it had taken thousands of years to put him out of commission. And in one day, they'd woken him. In one day they'd quite possibly ruined everything.

Stefan's teeth came down on his bottom lip and he sighed. There was nothing he could do about it now. "Well we'll just have to do it again. Bonnie should be strong enough to do the spell right?"

Apparently that wasn't what Klaus considered a sufficient answer because the hybrid merely gave him a dark look before stalking from the room. Stefan groaned, running a hand through his hair. Klaus had been having unbearable mood swings since he'd returned to Mystic Falls, Stefan assumed from the stress of this whole Mikael situation. He never had asked what Klaus was doing out of town though or where exactly on the map he'd been for those few days he was unreachable by phone.

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, Stefan padded down the stairs to the kitchen. He'd fed the night before with Klaus but couldn't help feeling hungry again. As unappealing as it was, he pulled a blood bag from the refrigerator, heating it up in the microwave. It was better heated than cold in his opinion but still nowhere near as good as it was from the vein. He likened it to leftovers. If they'd been sitting around in the fridge or freezer for two weeks, they might still be good to eat but they wouldn't taste like a meal that's just been cooked.

His nose wrinkled a little in disgust as he let his teeth tear through the plastic of the bag, forgoing the use of a mug. There were only vampires in his house right? No need to conform to human conventions. As if sensing his thoughts Elijah flickered into existence in the doorway, an eyebrow raised, Stefan assumed at his thirst.

"What?" He murmured, licking the leftover blood from his lips and throwing the packet in the garbage, heading for another bag, putting it in the microwave for thirty seconds like the last. His thirst was so inconsistent lately. One day he'd be so hungry he'd have a few people _and_ some blood packets and still not be sated but other times he could go for days without any. He'd like to put it down to Klaus' blood, maybe sending his body out of whack but he wasn't sure that was the case.

"Your thirst." Elijah finally commented, the brunette moving into the kitchen to take a seat on a stool by the island. "You really are insatiable."

He shrugged awkwardly. After all, what were you supposed to say to that? "Some days." He finally replied, slowly.

The original remained silent but continued to study the younger Salvatore intently. Stefan shuffled awkwardly on the spot and was relieved at an excuse to turn away when he remembered his second packet of blood in the microwave. He began to drink this one slowly, not feeling as quenchless as before.

"Can I ask you a question?" He said abruptly, taking a seat opposite Elijah.

"You can ask." The original offered smoothly and Stefan understood that there was no guarantee of an answer in that acquiescence.

"Did you know?" It was a question that had been nagging at him ever since he'd revived the brunette in Elena's living room. "About Klaus and me, in the 20's?" He elaborated. Elijah wasn't in his memories form that time of course but as soon as the compulsion had been lifted he'd wondered why no one had mentioned it to him in the months leading up to the ritual when they'd first become embroiled in all this original drama.

There'd been some long glances from Klaus that had confused him at the time, but he'd shrugged them off, having no explanation for it. Elijah however had been around a lot longer and shown no indication either and Stefan had been wondering ever since whether he'd been in on the big secret too.

"I'd say you more than knew him," Stefan was surprised at the sardonic tone, not having seen a sense of humour from the aristocratic vampire before, "but no." He replied honestly, "it was during a period where I had split from Klaus and Rebekah."

"Wait! So Rebekah was with you two the whole time?" He had assumed that Klaus had only kept one sibling with him at a time and killed the rest but obviously he'd been wrong.

"Yes, Rebekah and I made a pact to stay with him from the beginning after our father killed our mother." It seemed like there was more to the story but he didn't press, he stayed silent wondering how long they'd been apart for at the time he'd met Klaus and Rebekah and why Klaus hadn't just put Elijah with the rest of his family then.

Seeming to sense his thoughts the brunette continued speaking. "I was getting tired of being on the run from Mikael. He may have been my father but he-... when we sided with Klaus we were hunted too." Elijah struggled.

"When we found Katerina, I..." The original sighed and Stefan realised that like the rest of them, he truly had loved Katerina Petrova and been fooled by her. He had seen Katherine as something new, a way to escape his monotonous life and Klaus had taken that away.

"So after Katerina, you and Klaus split?" He confirmed quietly and Elijah nodded.

"Not directly after, but soon." He turned to face him seriously. "You must understand Stefan I wanted something different for a change. I missed the rest of my siblings and I didn't have anyone else...I didn't want to spend forever in _just_ Rebekah and Niklaus' company..."

It was the first time Stefan had heard him call Klaus by his full name, something he'd really only heard from Rebekah and he took a second to ponder it. It was nice he supposed, but he didn't think he'd ever be able to see him as anything other than _Klaus_.

Elijah continued suddenly, "Klaus always had Rebekah after I left but he was still lonely – the same as the rest of us. After mother-..." Elijah trailed off. "He didn't trust anyone but us. He needed Rebekah and she promised never to leave him but..." Elijah left the sentence unfinished and Stefan winced.

Stefan had two feelings about the way this conversation had turned. Trepidation and guilt. He was on edge just hearing the blunt truth from Elijah because this was definitely something Klaus wouldn't have shared with him himself. And probably, if he walked in on them talking about it now? Elijah would be straight back to sleeping with the rest of his family and Stefan would be gone for good. He knew though that this wasn't the whole story. Something about the way Elijah talked about their mother...it got to him. He'd always thought Mikael was the one that alienated Klaus but maybe his mother wasn't any better?

He felt guilty as well though because he knew that in a way it was his fault Klaus had been alone for so long. Klaus had killed Rebekah because she wanted to leave him...for Stefan. Whether it mattered that it was_ Stefan _personally or not, she was going to leave him by himself, so he killed her, ending in him being alone anyway. If only he hadn't lead Rebekah on, intentional or not then maybe things would have been different? Klaus' loneliness was his fault.

It made him wonder why, at the time, Klaus compelled Stefan to forget. He didn't know he wouldn't have Rebekah at the time but still, having someone else, someone other than family... But maybe he was being too self-centred.

"In some ways," Elijah brought him out of his musing, "I wish I had of known." He sent him a devilish smirk that Stefan thought for a minute looked a little out of place on the usually expressionless vampire. "I would have used you against him."

Stefan laughed, "I doubt it would have made a difference." Sure Klaus had known him before when he was unaware but at the time all he was to the hybrid was a potential wingman, nothing more. Obviously he wasn't that important as Klaus hadn't taken him with him then, only compelled him to forget. He ignored the nagging tug at his mind at that, to be honest he was pretty sure that's all he was now – a wingman, with physical benefits of course.

Sometimes of course he'd catch a flash of emotion in Klaus' eyes and his stomach would rise up, his logical mind rebelling against him and allowing him to think about the possibilities, about the future, the what if's and the maybes. But that was silly. Klaus wanted him. That was all. It didn't mean he had any kind of feelings for him whatsoever besides want and lust.

He ignored the clenching in his chest at that. He wished he could feel the same.

He finally finished off his second blood bag, throwing away the plastic casing and turned only to find Elijah giving him a sobering look.

"That's something you're going to have to watch out for Stefan, being _with_ Klaus...he has a lot of enemies." He didn't know why Elijah was telling him this. Was he saying that Stefan would be in danger travelling with Klaus? Because that was a given. But the way he'd said _with_ Klaus... It sounded like he thought they had an actual relationship, but that couldn't be right? Surely he should know his brother better than that.

Deciding to humour him for the moment Stefan replied, "So do I. I don't care." He sat down again, facing the brunette and sighing tiredly. "Why do you care anyway? Don't you hate Klaus?" He'd been wondering that too ever since Elijah had returned he'd been around them most of the time and while Klaus hadn't exactly been happy with Stefan making the decision to 'switch' his siblings over, neither of them had tried to kill the other yet either.

"We have a...complex relationship." Elijah finally replied and Stefan cocked his head to the side, waiting for him to continue. "You and Damon fight all the time do you not?"

He could accede that point. It felt like all he and Damon had been doing since they had turned was fighting. Over stupid little things that didn't matter or shouldn't matter anymore since they weren't human – they were going to live forever and letting petty grievances get between them was foolish of them.

"I didn't want him to free his werewolf side." Elijah admitted quietly. "Him being stronger than the rest of us meant-_means_ that I'll never see my family again." Stefan looked on in silence as the original spoke in a wistful sort of tone.

"And I found out something Rebekah doesn't know. She truly loves our brother, but...he's kept secrets from her." Stefan watched on as a pained expression crossed Elijah's face. "He killed our mother." The original continued nonchalantly, "of course I understand now, I always knew what she did to him," he said cryptically, his brow furrowing, "but at the time, after Katerina..." He sighed.

Stefan could understand that. But there was nothing that could be done now. And they would really need Elijah's help if they were going to survive this. Mikael was obviously not something to joke about and even now Stefan wasn't convinced that Klaus wouldn't just bolt at any second to save his own skin. But Elijah had been on Klaus' side before, after all the they were still family right?

"I don't suppose I could convince you..." He trailed off at the dry look the brunette was giving him.

"I'm here aren't I?" And with that Elijah swept gracefully from the room leaving Stefan to ponder their conversation and why exactly the original had revealed anything in the first place.

* * *

><p>"So," Stefan started as he caught up with Caroline in the hallway. He'd missed first and second period in his late start to the day but he'd make to third which conveniently enough was history with Caroline. After that they'd have PE with Elena and Tyler.<p>

"So?" She looked at him expectantly and shook her head. "You space out so much these days Stefan!" Slapping him in the arm she pulled him forwards and they kept walking toward Alaric's room.

"So," he continued pointedly, "I wanted to ask you something." He tugged on her hand to get her to stop her manic pace, after all what did it really matter if they were late for class right?

"Look, I'm flattered and all," she grinned, "but I actually kind of have a boyfriend and so do you."

He gaped, much to her amusement, trying to remember what exactly he was going to say in the first place. "No I don't!" He finally protested, holding out his hands "and last I checked neither did you!"

It was a low blow and he was lucky she took it in stride with a good sense of humour. "We're...getting back on track. Everything's a lot better now that Rebekah's gone."

Stefan sighed before nodding, "I know exactly what you mean." He said understandingly, smiling a little at her obvious rise in happiness since last week but still feeling a pinprick of guilt flutter in his chest.

"I mean," she continued, Tyler's still acting a little strange and all, but generally everything's gone back to normal."

Stefan shrugged, not knowing what to say. He had enough trouble with his own relationships let alone giving advice on someone else's. "It could have been worse?" He offered, "at least he's not dead."

Caroline had a quick retort for that one. "No, but you'd like him to be."

He had the decency to look a little guilty at that even though he didn't exactly regret his actions.

"It's okay," she held up a hand before he could continue. "I get it. You don't want anyone threatening what's yours, Damon explained the whole thing to me." She nodded sagely and Stefan groaned in embarrassment, the two blood bags he'd just drank rushing straight to his cheeks. He was going to kill his brother.

"Care! That's not-!" He cut himself off, "Can we just go back to my question please?" He asked, desperate to exit this conversation in any way possible.

The blonde cheerleader faked an irritated look, raising an eyebrow. "You haven't asked me anything Stefan!"

"Okay so when I was talking to Elena last," he started out quickly, "and she was trying to get me to go back on the animal diet," he rolled his eyes at that, "she said that your dad could resist compulsion. I was just wondering if there's any truth to that?"

He regretted asking when he saw her face crumple, eyes widening as his mind spun madly trying to figure out what exactly it was that he'd said. "Caroline...?" He asked hesitantly, wincing as her eyes filled with tears. Great, now he'd made her cry. Her father hadn't died had he? And he'd missed it?

"It's nothing Stefan, I'm fine." She waved him off, rubbing her eyes fiercely.

"No it's not," he muttered gently, pulling her into a hug. "What's up?"

She whispered softly, "my dad, he...he locked me up. Him and Mrs Lockwood. They tortu-...they tried to get me to associate blood with pain...so I wouldn't drink it."

Stefan stared at her horrified. "What? When?" It was ludicrous. A vampire couldn't stop drinking blood even if they associated it with pain, it was their sustenance, like humans needed food, vampires needed blood – without it they wouldn't survive.

"Care..."

She pushed him away. "I'm fine Stefan, seriously." She cleared her throat. "Anyway Damon tried to compel him to forget but it didn't work. He said that with enough willpower you could resist."

Stefan frowned. He wondered briefly whether Klaus' compulsion would work, it was a lot stronger than Damon's after all and so it would be a lot harder to resist. But Caroline would never let him bring her father to Klaus...even if he deserved it. Stefan snorted to himself, he deserved worse than that, that's for sure.

"Forget I asked." He muttered, before pulling her along to the last ten minutes of their history class as they'd already missed most of it by the time Caroline calmed down. They got a questioning look from Alaric when they entered as if to ask if there was a supernatural emergency going on at the moment. Stefan nearly laughed. When wasn't there? He sent the vampire hunter a subtle shake of the head anyway and they took their seats.

Stefan had retaken his old seat next to Elena and found it was no longer an uncomfortable feeling to be in each others presence which was a relief.

The class passed faster than he thought it would with a few jokes from Alaric here and there and they were soon back in the hallway and heading outside to the track and field.

"Are you ever on time to class?" Elena asked jokingly, thumping him in the arm as they walked and Stefan smiled, slipping easily into the sense of normality.

"Of course not." He laughed. "There's always some kind of supernatural emergency to talk about."

"Speaking of," Elena continued and Stefan and Caroline stopped. "Have you guys seen the photos of the cave?"

Stefan frowned, shaking his head. "What cave?"

"Mason Lockwood showed Damon a cave under the Lockwood property last night that supposedly had a way to kill originals 'in it'." She used air quotations. "Anyway they found this fancy viking writing on the walls and when Alaric looked at it he said some of the words were 'Niklaus', 'Elijah' and 'Rebekah'."

Stefan tensed immediately at her explanation. Why wouldn't Damon have mentioned this to him? Unless they were still going to try and kill Klaus? He glared at Elena. "And what, you guys are going to use what's in there to kill Klaus?"

At her upset face Stefan knew he'd misdirected his anger once again. "Sorry, Elena." He sighed, "I'm just a bit wound up." He ran a hand over the back of his neck.

She giggled a little, looking back at him. "Yeah, I think we all saw that last night." Stefan groaned in embarrassment once more, flinging his arms up.

"Can we just forget about that already?"

Both girls shook their heads, laughing and Stefan sighed. It might have seemed funny to them and even looking back on it he could appreciate their point of view but at the time there was nothing funny about it. He was about three seconds away from getting himself killed by Tyler Lockwood. As it was, he was heading to a class right now with the new hybrid in it and he was a little worried that he still might just lose it.

"Look," Elena said abruptly. "I can't speak for anyone else but I was thinking maybe whatever is in the cave could help us kill Mikael?"

Stefan felt hope rise in his chest for a second, if they would find a solution to the supposedly undefeatable Mikael anywhere in the world, it would definitely be the supernatural hub of Mystic Falls.

"I don't think so Elena." He said regretfully. "We can incapacitate him the same as the last witch did but if there was a way to kill him...don't you think Klaus would have found it already?"

"Well," she stayed chipper, "maybe he was just looking in the wrong places." That was something he loved about Elena, she was always positive, no matter what. A firm believer in 'if there's a will, there's a way'.

"Alright," he relented. "You said runic script right?" He thought for a moment. No offence to Alaric but who better to read an ancient script than someone who was ancient himself? "I'll ask Klaus to have a look at it."

He was sort of hoping he could have a look before then too and try and figure out what was so important about their mother.

Elena raised an eyebrow. "Damon's not going to like that." Stefan only shrugged. Damon should have told him about this cave in the first place.

They walked in silence for a few more moments before Elena spoke again. "Did you...Did you kill someone last night?" She whispered it softly and Stefan groaned mentally repeating a mantra of 'I will not feel guilty' in his head.

He simply looked at her darkly, pointing to himself. "Ripper."

She went quiet at that, walking ahead of them and Caroline groaned. "Great job Stefan." Her hand flew up to hit him in the back of the head but never made it there. He threw it back to her as she hissed at him, "no need to rub it in her face!"

He assumed Caroline thought that if they kept the fact that they drank human blood quiet Elena would eventually forget about it. "She's never going to accept it." He glared at his friend, admittedly feeling pretty miffed at Elena, despite the fact that she hadn't responded with a dig.

They reached the oval and Stefan shrugged off his hoodie, separating from the girls as they went to their individual change rooms. He wore a loose pair of basketball shorts and one of his usual grey tees for their PE class, which really just meant free choice of exercise. It was never a structured class and usually he just 'jogged' around the track talking to Elena. Today though that might have to change.

He rolled his eyes as he exited to find Caroline smiling brightly and directing the cheerleading squad once again. She seemed a lot happier now that she wasn't being shown up by Rebekah and had her squad back at her command – a natural born leader that girl, gives instructions but doesn't take them.

He felt the guilt stab at him again. From what Elijah had said this morning Rebekah truly loved Klaus and he, her. And he had killed her. No wonder the hybrid was moody with him, even though she wasn't really dead it was the thought that counted right? And in this case he'd had some pretty bad intentions.

He thought about awakening her again. She wasn't a threat really, and Klaus would be here to keep her in line...it would make Klaus happy right? Stefan scolded himself for thinking that way, really if she was going to kill all his friends then who cared if Klaus was happy? But that was extreme. At worst she might steal Caroline's boyfriend and he thought maybe that was a sacrifice they'd have to make...for the greater good.

He was so self-centred.

He was surprised when Elena joined him in their usual spot and they started around the track silently. "I...I'm not sorry." She admitted quietly. "I'd like to be, but I'm not. So can we just forget about it?"

Stefan sighed at her peace offering. "Of course." He let out a small smile. He really wanted them to be friends. She didn't understand now but eventually she would – she just didn't know it yet. In time, she would become one of them and she would feel the thirst, taste the difference. And she would know.

Against his better judgement Stefan allowed himself to dream of a day fifty years in the future when all this would be over and they'd all be one nice big vampire family. He snorted to himself, causing her to send him an inquisitive look. "Nothing." He shook his head.

Still the small smile refused to leave his face.

"Can I ask you something?" She said for the second time that morning and Stefan felt like cringing and replying in the negative. She continued on anyway though without a response. "Damon...Damon's been flirting with me a lot lately." She said lamely and Stefan raised an eyebrow.

"That's Damon for you." He responded sarcastically, perfectly aware that he wasn't being very helpful. His thoughts were confirmed when she glared at him.

"Yeah, but that's the problem." She sighed, "I know you said he cares about me but...I just don't want to be another notch on his bedpost, you know what I'm saying?"

Stefan frowned. "Is this about Katherine?"

She rolled her eyes, "I got over being worried about my looks when I was with you."

Stefan winced at that.

"Look," Elena panted, reminding Stefan that she was human and talking and jogging at the same time could be tiresome, so he slowed his pace a little. "I just...need some reassurance, you know?"

Stefan stopped her, grabbing her shoulders. "Elena, Damon loves you." He said honestly, staring into her eyes and trying to make her see how completely truthful he was being. "He has for a long time now."

She bit her lip, still looking unsettled. "And it doesn't bother you?"

He smiled, starting to jog again and she followed his lead. "I love you Elena, I always will but I don't think I'm _in_love with you anymore."

She nodded, "I know, you told me that the other day, I just mean...well...he's your brother you know?"

Stefan sighed, "seriously Elena, you like him, so go for it. It's not going to be awkward or anything – promise."

At the end of their lap it had been settled and Stefan felt strangely good about having done something incredibly nice for his brother for once with no prompting and nothing in return. It was funny what a good deed could make you feel.

He stopped on the track when his cellphone rang and he pulled it out of his shorts pocket, surprised. He held up a hand to halt Elena for a second while he answered it.

"Hello?" He was pretty sure he knew who it was already.

"Hello ripper." He wondered not for the first time whether that was a British or Welsh accent. Whatever it was..."I'm leaving tonight." Stefan frowned.

"What? Where are we going?" There was a chuckle on the other end of the line and Stefan pushed away the urge to pout, he didn't see what was so funny.

"Not we, Stefan. I."

"But Klaus," he groaned, trailing off. "Where?" He demanded suddenly, refusing to let this be like last time. He wanted to know where the hybrid was going to be. Or was he just running? Running away from Mikael who by all accounts should have reached Mystic Falls by now.

"None of your business Stefan, I'm going to see someone who might be able to clean up your brother's mess." He conceded that maybe that was a decent explanation but he still had no idea where that would be or how long it was going to take.

"Why aren't I coming?" Really, Stefan thought he should just show up and tag along, why was he even asking? It was dangerous for the hybrid to go by himself with Mikael lurking about and he told Klaus as much.

"Stefan, I'd hate to think you were doubting me." The original murmured and he could practically feel the smirk from the other side of the line. "I'll see you tonight before I leave." Klaus said and hung up, leaving no room for argument.

Stefan stared at the phone in his hand for a minute. There was no way Klaus was going alone. That combined with the guilt gnawing at his stomach made up his mind. He wouldn't be going to fifth period. His attendance record would be terrible.

* * *

><p>It was colder in Maryland than Virginia and a violent storm was brewing, wind whipping his clothes around him, screeching in his ears. He briefly wondered how many tornadoes Maryland had recently and whether they were due for another. He remembered one hitting Virginia in April though Mystic Falls was unaffected.<p>

Shrugging it off he entered the trailer he'd found himself in front of wondering once again if he was doing the right thing. He sighed, deciding that really he hadn't been left with much of a choice and pulled the dagger from Rebekah's chest. It was his fault anyway he reasoned, he really shouldn't have killed her in the first place. He even felt a little guilty for her sake, not just for Klaus'. She was immature sure but she wasn't all bad.

It didn't take as long for her to wake this time, probably because she hadn't been asleep for ninety years he supposed. She sprung up, gasping and surprisingly just stared at him venomously without attempting bodily harm.

"You!" She spat fiercely, pulling herself out of the coffin. "Don't pretend you had nothing to do with this!"

He rolled his eyes, "of course I did, but I woke you up? It hasn't even been that long, only few days."

She looked at him sharply then, straightening out her clothes. "How can I trust that you're telling the truth?" He threw her his cellphone, annoyed at her attitude already.

"Check the date."

She nodded slowly, looking at him calculatingly. "Why did you wake me then? Klaus not happy with you?" At his surprised look she muttered, "don't look so shocked I can smell him all over you."

Stefan frowned. He was pretty sure that he didn't smell like Klaus. Then again, her senses were stronger than his. "He wasn't. But that's not why I woke you." That got her interest at least and she held up a hand in the gesture or wait before leaving the truck for a second, coming back with one of the compelled human guards, sinking her fangs into his neck.

At his silence she raised her brows, giving him an irritated look. "Well, go on!" She insisted before going back to drinking. He stared at the man's blood for another minute before shaking himself out of it – he really was insatiable today.

"Mikael's coming here. Klaus is going off to get something that will help but he won't tell me what and I don't want him going alone. So you're going with him." He revealed and she stopped to look at him in wonder.

"You don't want him to go alone. You actually _care_." He realised then that she thought he'd turned his emotions off, that Klaus had compelled him to do so in the high school that night. It seemed like so much time had passed since then.

"I never switched them off." He informed her, referring to any feelings he might have had..or still had, as it were.

She seemed put out. "I know that you idiot, the switch is a myth." She seemed to think him stupid and maybe he was, because he sure wasn't expecting that. Damon had told him as much but to have it confirmed by someone as old as vampires themselves...

"Then why did Klaus try and get me to switch it off?" He asked in wonder.

"It's all very complicated," she rolled her eyes at him again, "you can turn off your humanity if you're young enough to separate them, but feelings? You'll always have those. Bloodlust is a feeling too Stefan."

It made sense he supposed, but it wasn't exactly something he wanted to hear. He kind of liked knowing that the option was there for him if it ever got worse, if he couldn't handle it anymore. Apparently that option was never there in the first place.

"So, is Mikael here yet?" She asked quietly as if contemplating how long she had to run as far away as possible.

"We're not in Mystic Falls," he commented off handedly, "we're in Maryland, but I don't know." He replied honestly. "Damon's lost contact with Katherine so we have no idea where he is, only that he woke up a few days ago."

Rebekah sighed. "So Klaus is going to find a witch?" She questioned and Stefan shrugged in reply because honestly his guess was as good as hers.

"I don't know. Why couldn't Bonnie do it if that was the case? Maybe she could contact the original witch and see what she knows?" Rebekah openly stared and he wondered what it was exactly he'd said and hoped this wasn't going to go like the first time this had happened today because he really couldn't handle another crying blonde.

"You really don't know do you?" She asked abruptly and he frowned.

"What?" He asked as she let out a short laugh.

"I may as well tell you I suppose," she said more to herself than him. "It's not like you don't know everything else anyway." She took a seat on the coffin behind her, dropping the dead body of the guard she'd been holding. He fell to the floor with a thump and she dusted off her hands, swinging her legs.

"The _original_ witch." She stressed, "come on Stefan, put it together." He frowned at her, still puzzled. Maybe he was just being thick but there weren't any amazing revelations coming to him at the moment. She shoved at his shoulder. "You moron. She was our mother."

And suddenly it all made sense. What Elijah had said this morning, what exactly Klaus' mother had done to him to provoke him – why he'd killed her. She'd turned them into vampires, created the original family and when his father's wrath had come down on him, because he was the shame of their family – the product of an affair, she had bound his werewolf side.

His mouth hung open as he tried to process this. What it all meant. And all he could think, all he could feel was sorrow...and sympathy, for Klaus – stronger than ever before. If it were Elena he would have gone to her, wrapped her in his arms and just held on until his emotions calmed down. But Klaus wasn't Elena and he wasn't supposed to know any of this. He detested being so empathic. Not only did he have all these feelings but they fought to flood out of him, they burned at him until he showed them.

"So now you see," she whispered, "why it's so hard for him to trust anyone." He had to remember that Rebekah was unaware that it had actually been Klaus that had killed their mother. He had to keep that a secret, especially until she and Klaus returned from wherever they would be going and this whole Mikael debacle was over.

He realised now too why that necklace had meant so much to her, because it was her mothers. Probably one of the only things she had of her.

He failed to notice that she had been looking inquisitively around the truck until she spoke suddenly, "you woke Elijah." He nodded, it was a statement of fact, not a question. She looked at him sharply, "Why didn't you just have Elijah go with Niklaus?" She asked and he groaned.

"Why can't you just trust me?" She gave him a sardonic look. Truthfully, he wanted someone to look over the caves just in case there was something useful there and Rebekah couldn't be the one to do it just in case there was something in there that mentioned her mother's death. He wasn't going to put Klaus in danger from his sister just because he was impatient.

"Elijah's busy with something else," he replied finally, "can we just go?"

She huffed before pushing him out of the way and striding from the truck. Her attitude would probably never change. He was glad he'd driven to Maryland this time because while they could run back it was now raining heavily and thunder was starting to rumble in the sky. Running in wet clothes would be unpleasant.

The minute they got in the car Rebekah turned to him and said, "so, Niklaus huh?"

He couldn't help but blush at the clear opener. He'd led her on by accident all the while trying to seduce her brother in the 1920's and now they'd met again and she was still after him while he still pursued her brother. Talk about awkward situations.

He decided on glaring and snapping, "none of your business." To which he was rewarded with a girly giggle and then silence. She was just like Caroline. In a way teenage girls were all the same – thousands of years old or not.

The rest of the drive was surprisingly silent, something Stefan met with relief. He didn't think he could have handled a full scale interrogation from the blonde because honestly, he didn't know what was going on between them himself. Sex or no sex Klaus was still as confusing as the day he'd met him...the second time around of course.

He was glad to finally pull into the boarding house. It had stopped raining when they'd reached Virginia but the silence had also begun to grow tense and awkward to the point where Stefan had to ask himself if he were imagining it or not.

He hadn't even fully opened the door before Klaus was in front of him.

"Stefan," he greeted, a small smile on his lips and Stefan couldn't help but narrow his eyes. Why was he so cheerful? He'd been quite moody this morning. He was satisfied to see shock dance across the hybrid's expression though when he spotted who was behind him.

"Hello Nik." Rebekah greeted with a smile and pushed passed Stefan to hug her brother. He gaped at the display of affection before feeling (woefully) a little jealous. He'd tried to do the same this morning and been pushed away. He didn't know why it bothered him so much. As much as he liked the idea, they weren't in a relationship or anything of the sort. It just came down once again to the fact that he was a tactile person he supposed. One of his magnified qualities. He liked to touch.

He could feel his mood turn sour as he leaned against the doorway, staring at the pair darkly. Ocean blue eyes caught his and Klaus' lips turned up in a smirk. He released his sister slowly, taking a step forward, frowning as Stefan took a step back in response.

In seconds he was slammed back against the wall in the entryway, lips covering his own. He went pliant at once, moaning as Klaus' tongue entered his mouth. He gripped at the blonde's shoulders harshly, desperately trying to pull him closer.

As soon as it started it was over and Klaus was smirking at him once more. "No need to be moody, ripper."

Stefan couldn't decide what embarrassed him more – the fact that Klaus had figured him out so easily or the fact that they'd just basically made out in front of his sister.

He cleared his throat, wishing he had the will to put some space between them but the last thing he wanted to do at the moment was push Klaus away, so he stayed unmoving, breathing harshly.

"I thought Rebekah could go with you." He murmured and Klaus smiled in amusement.

"You really do doubt me, don't you Stefan." The sardonic tone made him wince and his eyes narrow. He knew what the older vampire was implying and that wasn't what this was at all. He could see clearer now, how even standing mere inches from each other Klaus was still trying to push him away, still building a wall up around himself so he didn't get hurt.

"No," he growled fiercely, "I don't." Finally shoving the hybrid back out of his space, noting Rebekah watching on with interest. "I don't want you to go alone because I care, you asshole." He snarled before turning on his heel and stalking up to his room, slamming the door behind him.

First he apparently has too many pesky emotions and now Klaus won't see that he has them at all.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Longest chapter so far! (: And Mikael is papa original in canon too! Damn, I'm good ;) Can't say I saw Esther being the OW coming though.

I actually have some bad news too. I'm going on holidays next week so I won't be able to update for maybe three weeks D: I'm so sorry my lovelies! I'm travelling in Asia so while I'll have internet access (yay iPhones!) to reply to your lovely reviews and PM's, I won't have my laptop :(

I might get another out before I leave, fingers crossed! Once again, so sorry my lovelies!


	16. XVI

**SURPRISE! :D**

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>The boarding house was silent in the hours of the early morning for once and Stefan was glad. He was nursing a blood bag in one hand while checking his phone for what must have been the third time that hour, only to heave a disappointed sigh as the home screen remained blank. He'd barely slept at all last night and it only made him incredibly frustrated with himself. He was worried, yes, but he knew Klaus could look after himself – or should be able to provided he didn't run into Mikael. Plus he had the added support of Rebekah now right? They were pretty much indestructible together.<p>

But while logical reasoning could solve that issue for him, no amount of logic could explain the burning need to feel a strong arm resting over his hip. He wasn't a girl! He didn't need a powerful presence beside him to make him feel safe, so what was it? Why didn't he feel right curled up by himself as he had done every night for the last hundred and fifty years?

It was frustrating. He could admit to himself that he had feelings for the hybrid, he knew that. But that didn't mean he was some lovesick idiot! He felt like a teenage girl. In fact, it was like going through puberty all over again! And worse, in the middle of the night at the point where he'd finally had enough of his confusing feelings, he'd pulled himself over to the side of the bed and picked up his phone to dial Lexi. He was halfway through the number she had last kept when he realised that she wouldn't be answering.

All in all, it made for a shocking mood the next morning. So when the door to the boarding house slammed open, he twisted in his seat with a glare, fully prepared to tear into his brother, or Alaric or whoever else had decided to barge into his home at the ungodly hour of 7am – supernatural emergencies be damned.

What he wasn't expecting was a disarrayed Caroline in tears to barrel into his arms, nearly knocking him off the stool.

"Hey, hey, what's up?" He asked softly and a dark voice in his head murmured that if this was some ridiculous teenage drama he was going to tear her head off. Immediately he felt guilty. Caroline had matured a lot since she was turned – becoming a vampire would do that to you. So whatever she was upset about it had to be important right?

She looked up at him with a watery smile and his eyes narrowed at a thin pink line above her right cheekbone, disappearing before his eyes. "Nothing," she swallowed heavily, "I just needed a hug."

He didn't believe her, not for a second. Eyeing the closing wound on her cheek he played along, whispering softly, "sometimes I need a hug too."

She laughed slightly before wincing. "God, I'm so sorry. I'm a mess."

He ran a hand across her shoulder. "Sure you don't want to talk about it?" He was trying to figure out exactly what had happened. Something supernatural she'd talk about right? And she'd probably go to one of her girlfriends first. They'd grown a lot closer since her turning but she was still more likely to approach Bonnie or Elena first with something supernatural, so long as it wouldn't incite their scorn.

A fight with her mother perhaps? The sheriff had become more complacent about vampires since learning the truth about her daughter the second time around, but they probably still had their disagreements. The mark on Caroline's cheek though, gone as it now was, had been more than a minor scrape not mere minutes before she'd arrived at the boarding house. Stefan knew what it looked like, though bruises wouldn't have formed, a mark in that area could only come from one kind of injury, but he sincerely doubted the sheriff would have hit her own daughter, no matter what kind of argument they got into.

Tyler Lockwood on the other hand...

He came out of his thoughts to see Caroline staring, captivated at the blood bag he'd abandoned on the counter.

"Do you want to go hunt some deer?" He found himself saying before he even really thought about it.

She gave him an odd look, wrinkling her nose before replying, "but you don't eat animals anymore Stefan. And neither do I, they're gross."

He rolled his eyes at her girly disgust though he did agree with her assessment. Animal blood was indeed 'gross' compared to the real thing.

"It's more about the hunt than feeding. You can work off some aggression?" He offered willing her to jut accompany him. The thrill of the hunt would do her some good and besides it would be like a vampiric bonding exercise. They could kill some deer together and she could breakdown and admit what exactly had happened to her.

He was dying to know. That and she was one of his only friends so he did honestly want to kill whoever it was that had attacked her, because that was clearly what had occurred. Much to his brother's dismay Caroline had wormed her way into his little bubble of 'family' and would probably be around for a long time in their immortal lives.

"Sure." She finally caved, sighing softly and following him out the door.

They raced through the woods behind the house, darting through the trees. They passed by old wickery bridge and Stefan had to steel himself from an onslaught of memories. Was it really only a year or so ago that he'd returned home and saved Elena Gilbert from drowning with her parents in that very river? It felt like so much longer.

Ironic when you live forever that time seems to drag on.

He'd caught the scent of a doe a few yards back but stayed behind Caroline, allowing her to catch the animal with her preternatural strength hoping the victory of making the first catch would cheer her up. She grinned at him for a moment before looking down at the struggling animal she'd pinned.

In seconds she was next to him and the doe was bolting through the pine trees as fast as it's legs would carry it. Stefan could still here it's heart pounding rapidly in fear from where he was and he sighed, looking over at the blonde next to him.

"I didn't want to kill it," she muttered and he laughed, throwing an arm over her shoulders. She really was one of a kind. In an effort to raise her spirits he told her so, frowning as she only let out a small smile.

"Where were you this morning?" He asked abruptly, forgoing all his plans to beat around the bush.

She looked up at him sadly before running a hand over her cheek where the mark had once been. "I spent the night at Tyler's." She said softly and Stefan couldn't remember the last time he'd wanted to kill someone so badly.

Just the other night he'd wanted to tear the new hybrid limb from limb but hat was nothing compared to the rage he was feeling now. He could feel his blood boiling, burning hot through his veins. The only thing stopping him from storming over to the Lockwood house right now was the fact that he knew he would be torn apart before he got anywhere near harming the idiot. And he didn't know how exactly you went about killing a hybrid.

"He was just talking about Rebekah again and how much better she is at everything I do and I just...snapped. I didn't think he'd..." She trailed off, hand returning to her cheek again.

"I'm going to kill him." Stefan clenched his fists. It was a promise and he was going to keep it. He didn't care if he had to be indebted to Klaus forever in order to convince the hybrid to do the deed for him – Tyler Lockwood would regret his actions.

"You can't Stefan." She sighed. "I know you're older than me, but you're not strong enough to take him on. And I don't want you getting hurt trying."

He smiled softly. Her heart was in the right place, but he wasn't going to let her think there was nothing anyone could do. "Klaus is out of town, but when he gets back...Just stay away from Tyler until then, okay?"

He didn't mention he was planning on having the werewolf's head ripped clean off his shoulders because he was sure that even after the events of the last week, not to mention this morning – she would still protest that. In fact, even he was feeling bad about what he intended to happen to the teenager. Maybe his new douche attitude was a result of the transition and would wear off?

He sighed in frustration. He could admit a little of his own feelings was effecting his decision. He didn't like the guy to begin with but the way her stared at Klaus now, like a dog practically salivating over a piece of meat...he wanted him out of the picture.

Caroline pulled on his arm, leading him back towards the boarding house. "C'mon. We have school today and I left my car at the Lockwood's."

Stefan's mood darkened at the prospect of encountering Tyler but he knew he had to accompany Caroline, lest anything else happen to her. He followed her silently back to the boarding house at a human pace despite their obvious lack of time – his attendance records were going to be the worst he'd ever graduated with that much he was certain of.

The boarding house loomed within the distance and before they'd even stepped foot inside the house Damon was out the door and striding towards them. "Hey little brother!" He called mockingly, before nodding to Caroline. "Blondie." He waved them towards the house before saying, "listen, Elena told you about that cave I found right? The one Mason Lockwood showed us? Do you think there's maybe a chance you could get your boyfriend to come have a look at these symbols?" There was a disgruntled look on Damon's face as if he detested the very idea of asking Klaus for help.

Stefan's fist shot out to punch his brother in the arm for the boyfriend comment and replied huffily, "he's out of town."

He ignored how relieved Damon looked at that statement, instead glaring at him moodily. When Damon spoke it was with sarcasm as usual. "Well that's okay, I doubt he'd tell us the truth anyway." Stefan rolled his eyes and before he could open his mouth to reply Damon ha begun speaking again. "I'm surprised after he way you acted the other night you let him out of your sight at all...you know, Mikael prowling around and all." His tone was nonchalant but Stefan had known his brother a long time – he was fishing.

Deciding to just bite the bullet he ground his teeth and spat out, "Rebekah's with him." He had forgotten for a moment that Caroline was there and was quickly reminded of her presence when she let out a startled exclamation of obscenities that impressed even Damon.

"Why the hell would you wake her after all the trouble we went to to kill the bitch?" Damon spat, Caroline nodding furiously beside him in agreement. Stefan shifted uncomfortably. What was he supposed to say? That while she was terrible to everyone else she truly cared for her brother so he'd woken her for Klaus' protection? It sounded like a ridiculous explanation in his head, let alone out loud.

"Look, like you said," he nodded to Damon, "Mikael is out there now and we need all the help we can get...I just thought twice about killing her alright?" He withered under their twin glares and they remained silent.

Determined to change the subject he threw up his hands, "Look! We've got bigger fish to fry!"

Damon rolled his eyes. "I _know_ that! Like I said, we need someone to read the original family biography!"

Stefan sighed, "that's an easy fix, I'll just ask Elijah."

His brother snorted at that. "Oh sorry, I forgot you're practically one of the family now!"

Stefan glared at his brother for being difficult, noticing Caroline shifting uncomfortably from the corner of his eye. "I _said_ we have bigger problems!" He growled, shoving Damon back a few steps and watching as his brother's eyes darkened angrily.

"Like what?" He spat, stepping forward – ready for a fight.

"Like the fact that Tyler Lockwood's slapping Caroline around!" He regretted it the moment it burst from his mouth because despite the fact that he never intended on keeping it a secret, he didn't think Caroline would appreciate him telling everyone they knew.

Damon's mouth hung open, for once at a loss for words. He stared between Caroline's upset face and Stefan's disgruntled visage for a minute before blurting out, "you're kidding me?"

At the serious look Stefan shot him he turned back to Caroline. "Jeez, Barbie..." He seemed to struggle for a second and Stefan was pleased to see how emotional Damon was getting, it meant that for all his talk he really did respect Caroline enough to be upset about it. In a flash it was gone and the fury Stefan had felt earlier was mirrored in his brother's blue eyes.

"We're going to kill the bastard."

Stefan sighed. "I want to, don't get me wrong. But we still have to figure out how." He raised an eyebrow, reminding Damon that Tyler wasn't just a werewolf anymore – hence his ability to throw Caroline around in the first place.

Damon nodded slowly. "Well Ric and I think the answer to that's in this cave."

Stefan groaned, "okay, okay. We'll work out the paintings or whatever they are this afternoon – promise." It was always best to placate his brother first then address the issue later. While they'd been talking though they'd forgotten once again that Caroline was there and she was now staring between them incredulously.

"You can't just kill him!" She gaped, staring up at them with big eyes that made them both wince.

"He's abusing you!" Damon spat. "Why are you defending him?"

Caroline glared back at him, "he wasn't like that before though! It's only since he's turned into a hybrid!"

Stefan felt like he should cut in before the argument turned explosive as it normally did between Caroline and Damon. He wasn't her favourite person since she'd been turned into a vampire and regained all her memories of his compulsion.

"Klaus doesn't throw me around for no reason." He threw out, irritated when they only raised an eyebrow each in response. "Well, we're not even technically together...I mean, if he doesn't throw even his friends around..." He struggled helplessly trying to get his point across but by the looks on their faces he was failing miserably.

"Tyler's a douchebag!" He burst out, widening his eyes and willing them to get the point. Damon rolled his at this, turning back to Caroline.

"It doesn't matter whether he was like this before he turned or not, you can't undo it Caroline! He'd going to be like this forever and that's it!" Damon made a lot more sense than Stefan had but Caroline still shrugged stubbornly, refusing to agree to their plans.

Stefan sighed, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "Look," he said impatiently. "I'm gonna go get my stuff and then we can go get your car." He was relieved when she didn't protest and he practically flew into the house and up the stairs.

He had the ridiculous urge to collapse onto his bed and just relax, forgetting everything about this worsening saga. Instead though he threw a few things into his small backpack for appearance's sake. Before leaving the room he pulled his phone out of his pocket to check for missed calls just once more and was struck by another bout of nostalgia. He'd had the terrible urge all week the talk to Lexi.

He wanted his friend back so badly. Sometimes he couldn't bare to look at Damon in fear that he'd do something he'd regret later. He'd taken her from him – he'd killed Stefan's best friend and he didn't know if that was something he could ever forgive.

There were times when he wouldn't realise she was gone, she'd been a part of his life so long and often not present for months on end. It was easy to think she was just off an an extended vacation somewhere or travelling some remote part of the world. These were the times he'd go for the phone, making it halfway through dialling her number before he realised she wasn't ever going to pick up.

It hurt to know that she had been here, watching over them and Elena had gotten to speak to her. That he had missed his chance to see her just one more time.

He had a picture of her inside one of his journals from the 1950's and sometimes he'd pull it out and just stare, imagining what she'd say to him, what she'd think of what he'd become.

"Well you're not exactly the poster boy for vegetarianism are you?"

He whirled around faster than he knew possible, jaw dropping open, his eyes wide as saucers. "Wh-...Lexi?" He gasped, staring at the figure of the blonde lounging on his bed, flicking through his current journal that he'd kept hidden under the mattress, away from prying eyes. His past thoughts were one thing, his current ones were a different matter.

"I must say though, Niklaus? Nice work Stefan. If you were going for the shock factor you get a ten from me."

He was still gaping, unable to form words though he had so much he wanted to say. She got up from the bed, walking over to his still form. "Well come on Stefan, give me a hug." She smiled a typical Lexi smile and he stepped forward shakily, reaching out a hand to touch her shoulder, his heart pounding as his fingers met soft cotton covering her solid form. He collapsed forward into her waiting arms, holding onto her so tightly that if she were human, she'd be crushed.

Embarrassingly he felt something like tears well in his eyes and he choked out a laugh. "It's really you." He felt her pulling away and gripped tightly onto her shoulders, letting her take a step back but refusing to lose contact with her lest she disappear.

"I'm not alive Stefan," she said, smiling softly. "I'm just a ghost."

He nodded frantically. "I know, but..." He shook his head. "I just can't believe you're here. There's just so much I want to tell you, I..."

She nodded understandingly. "I know Stefan. You forget, I've been watching." She frowned then, adding, "well not all time, some of the things you get up to..."

Stefan flushed, finally letting go of her shoulders and taking a step back. "I...Are you disappointed in me?" He looking down at the floor, not daring to meet her gaze. She had spent more than a lifetime looking after him, making him detox from human blood when he relapsed over and over again and here he was, throwing out all her efforts as if they were nothing.

When she didn't reply he looked up worriedly, surprised to see a soft smile on her face. "No Stefan, I'm not disappointed in you..."

She looked around the room suddenly, hair flying left and right. She turned back to him with worried eyes, frantically reaching out to pull his face between her hands. Soft fingers resting on his cheeks she looked into his eyes. "I don't have much time Stefan, listen to me!" She was panicked now and his eyes were darting around the room to take in the supernatural breeze whipping his things through the air.

"Stefan!" She yelled and he shook himself, returning his gaze to meet hers. "You need to tell him to let her in! Tell him to trust her!" He shook his head confusingly, ready to tell her he didn't understand when he began to disappear before his eyes. First he couldn't feel her hands on his face anymore, then she dissolved in front of him, the breeze calming and his room settling into an eerie supernatural stillness.

He span around, looking desperately for his best friend. Could life really be that cruel to give her back to him for mere minutes and then rip her away suddenly once again?

"Lexi?" He gasped out, his throat raw with emotion. "Lexi!" This time it was barely below a yell and the door to his room flew open, banging against the wall.

"What's taking you so..." His brother trailed off at the look on his face, Caroline peering over his shoulder to take in the mess of his bedroom.

"We need to see Bonnie," he croaked out, looking at them seriously. "Now."

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><p>Caroline had sent Bonnie a text message to refrain from going to school before they could get there to see her. The witch had apparently agreed although she was reluctant to get involved with anymore supernatural occurrences.<p>

Unfortunately for her, the way Stefan saw it they were still stuck on the same occurrence and living in Mystic Falls, her abhorrence of all things not 'normal' was something she was going to have to get over pretty quickly.

They'd taken his car, Stefan being in such a hurry to find out what was going on that they'd forgone the trip to Tyler's, Stefan insisting they could drop by later in the day and pick up the fiesta. Although Caroline seemed a little put out she agreed and left with him while Damon headed out to Alaric's to help with the cave paintings as the history teacher was taking the day off to investigate them further.

Secretly Stefan thought Damon just wanted to spend time with Alaric.

When Bonnie opened the door to a harried looking Stefan accompanied by Caroline she didn't seem all that surprised at his state, inviting him in cordially before taking a tired seat across from them in the living room.

Caroline had informed him on the way over that the Bennett witch hadn't quite been herself since she'd discovered Jeremy was cheating on her with a ghost, the ghost of his ex, no less. While she'd tried her usual tricks of suggesting a girl's night to cheer her friends up the idea had been shot down pretty quickly and she'd ended up spending the night at Tyler's instead. Her tone turned pretty morbid after that.

"So?" Bonnie looked up from her lap, curls bouncing around her head. "What is it this time?" She asked acridly, raising an eyebrow and gaining back some of her superior attitude she'd taken to displaying when faced with vampires and their problems.

He resisted the urge to glare a little knowing the witch was just in a bad place at the moment and sighed heavily. "Lexi was in my room this morning." He explained, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "She was one of the ghosts."

Bonnie nodded slowly, not looking overly dismayed. "Well we knew the necklace wasn't destroyed...obviously that's what they're connected to so maybe they were just pushed back a little while."

Stefan frowned, "I don't think it's the same as before. She was there to deliver a message and she was pulled away from me...she didn't want to go." He knew how it had worked for Jeremy and everyone last time and he had definitely wanted Lexi there, it wasn't as if he had willed her away.

"What was the message?" Bonnie asked instantly and Stefan started. He hadn't really thought about what Lexi had seemed so desperate to tell him until now, far too concerned with trying to find a way to bring her back.

"She said...'You need to tell him to let her in'...That I needed to tell someone they had to trust her." He shook his head. "Whoever 'she' is." It was a cryptic message that didn't really help them whatsoever. Besides Lexi Stefan had no supernatural friends on 'the other side' and definitely no witches, so they weren't trying to contact him but someone he knew. Someone Stefan knew who was embroiled in all this drama and knew a supernatural being on the other side. He snorted out loud – it could be anyone from Mystic Falls.

"So this person is trying to contact someone from our side." Caroline deliberated slowly..."but whoever it is won't let them in." She sighed loudly – they all knew they had nothing.

"Why you though?" Bonnie said suddenly. "I mean, Jeremy's been seeing Anna and Vicki for weeks, why not send one of them with the message?" The witch contemplated out loud. "Why bother sending Lexi to _you_ specifically?"

The girls turned to look at him simultaneously as Bonnie finished, "who do you know that the rest of us don't?"

It was Caroline who answered the rhetorical question, gasping out loud. "Klaus." She eyed him warily. "Whoever it is wants to get a message to Klaus."

They stared at each other for a moment and Stefan's mind began racing. Who would be trying to contact Klaus from the other side? Presumably he knew millions of people in the land of far far away – hell he'd probably sent them there. And the amount of witches he'd probably known in his thousand years of life...there was no way of knowing who it could be.

"I think," an articulate voice cut in from the entryway, "that I might know who it may be."

Bonnie glared at Elijah as he stepped forward into the living room. He had been invited in previously but it was still a surprise when vampires just appeared inside your house without the conventional use of a doorbell or knocking as was polite. Stefan found himself quite surprised in fact that Elijah who was nothing less than admirably moral had forgone announcing himself entirely. He supposed it was just a testament to exactly how much was on the original's mind.

"Well?" Caroline exclaimed impatiently, "care to share with the class?" An indecipherable look passed between the two vampires that had Stefan narrowing his eyes in thought. What was that?

"I think," Elijah ignored the blonde, turning to speak to Stefan instead, "that I'd better see these cave paintings first to be sure of her intentions." The original then smoothly exited the room, sending a look over his shoulder that told Stefan he was meant to follow. It was eerily reminiscent of his hybrid brother and Stefan found himself checking his phone just one more time.

Caroline huffed at the direction and stood her ground. "We're not seriously going to drop this are we?" Her eyes were still following Elijah's form out the front door and into the sunlight.

"We're not dropping it, Care." Stefan placated and Bonnie nodded in agreement.

"But he knows something and we need to find out what." The witch's tone was dark and Stefan knew that if Elijah wasn't already going to share, Bonnie Bennett would have made him – she meant business.

"Come on," Stefan nodded towards the door and after only minutes inside Bonnie's house they were all piled back into his car.

"The mystery of this town is getting really old, really fast." He griped as he turned the key in the ignition, pulling out and tearing off towards Alaric's apartment where the pictures of this cave apparently were. He was sure if Sheriff Forbes had of seen him he would be severely chastised for going not only double the legal speed limit but with her daughter in the car too. Luckily they were all pretty much indestructible.

When they pulled up to Alaric's apartment he gestured for the others to go ahead of him, waiting until they'd entered the building before pulling out his phone and dialling an already too familiar number.

"Hello love." He shivered as the cultured accent reached his ears, unable to help the relieved feeling that had blossomed in his stomach at hearing the hybrid's voice.

"Hey." Stefan said quietly, head rocking back as he reclined in the car seat.

"I thought I assured you that I could look after myself, no need to check up on me, Stefan." He sighed at the humour in Klaus' voice, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. They hadn't exactly parted on the best terms and Stefan was sure that after what he had to ask the blonde the situation wouldn't be improving any.

"I'm not checking up on you. I need..." He was terrified to even ask the question, knowing Klaus' temper he was absolutely sure he would blow up at him for even uttering the sentence. He winced pre-emptively before steeling himself and continuing on. "I need to know how you kill a hybrid."

There was silence for a moment and he resisted the urge to check that the call hadn't been disconnected. Either Klaus was reaching a boiling point or he had just flat out hung up on him.

"No." The word was quietly uttered from the other end of the line and Stefan groaned in exasperation realizing it was going to be the former.

"I _need_to _know_." Stefan ground out through grit teeth, feeling his anger rising and not being completely sure of why. It would be easy to blame it on the fact that Klaus was being difficult, that Tyler had beat up one of his best friends – that he'd been wound up all day and now he was finally reaching breaking point.

But that wasn't it. What bothered Stefan, what really nagged at him so much that it was making his blood boil in anger was that Klaus didn't trust him enough to tell him. That whatever this, his dedication to Klaus was, it wasn't enough for the hybrid to trust him.

"Stefan." He could hear the warning in the older vampire's tone and he couldn't help but scoff. Klaus ignored him continuing. "I don't know what it is with you wanting to kill off my army before it begins, but it stops now."

Stefan rolled his eyes. That was so typical of Klaus, only ever caring about his little crusade against the rest of the population. Only caring about himself.

Fury building within him Stefan grit his teeth, snarling into the phone. "You know what Klaus? You're never going to trust me!" He was fuming now and he threw open the car door and stood up, pacing angrily. "So _this_?" He growled, referring to whatever it was that was going on between the two of them. "This is never going to work." His throat was raw as he croaked out his last two words, strained with emotion. "I'm done."

He hung up the phone, staring at it for a moment without really seeing before he hurled it across the street where it shattered upon impacting the tarmac, pieces scattering everywhere. He shook as his chest heaved and he closed his eyes, stomach turning over painfully.

His façade crumbled when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder and he turned to take in Elijah's solemn expression.

"He doesn't trust anyone." The original said softly, gripping his upper arm tightly. "Not with his own life."

Stefan nodded, closing himself off and looking down at the ground.

"Come on," the brunette tugged on his arm. "Elena told me about these caves and I think I know what's going on." Stefan followed him inside silently, not meeting anyone's eyes when they entered the kitchen where there were various photographs scattered all across the bench top, post it notes littering the walls with various images and translations.

While the others seemed to sense something was up they had the good grace not to mention it, going on with the discussion he and Elijah had interrupted with their entrance.

As they discuss the age of the cave paintings and the meanings of the various symbols that Alaric had already translated Stefan found himself studying Elijah closely. The vampire obviously knew a lot more than he was letting on. The way he was staring at the photographs with a sense of familiarity told Stefan that much.

It wasn't until Elena held up her necklace and the group realised it matched one of the symbols that h rejoined the conversation.

"The witch." He said suddenly, pointing at the picture reflecting the symbol the necklace housed.

"We figure it's the witch who cursed Klaus, yeah." Elena said, pointing at the pictures. "Because it seems to be the story of the original family." She explained, not realising that they were all missing one crucial piece of the puzzle.

Stefan stepped forward, snatching the photo out of her hands and holding it up to the others. "Yes, the _original _witch." When they responded with only blank 'well obviously' expressions he could really appreciate how Rebekah felt when trying to enlighten him.

He rolled his eyes, "No," he said jabbing a finger at the picture. "The witch _of_ the _original_ family." He put emphasis on certain words, willing them to see his point. Elijah looked surprised at this admission, obviously not expecting him to know that part of the story as he'd carefully omitted it in his explanation the other morning.

As comprehension dawned on their faces and Damon snatched the picture out of his hands he sighed heavily. "Now," he began, moving towards the tale with the rest of the pictures. "What does it tell us about killing Mikael, or hybrids for that matter?"

It was Elijah who answered this time. "Absolutely nothing." The original vampire maintained his composure at the renegade groups incredulous looks, explaining further. "There is no recorded way to kill a hybrid. Whatever that particular secret may be, it died with the original witch...my mother."

And suddenly it all made a lot more sense.

The paintings were the autobiography of the original family. They chronicled their story and sent anyone who sought to hunt down Klaus in the right direction to discover how – to his mother.

She had cursed him to live a half-life, tried to stop him from freeing the other part of himself, from becoming who he truly is and now, she still holds the key to destroying him completely. Permanently.

And Stefan was sure that she would have no trouble informing her late husband exactly what that secret was.

"We have to cover up these caves." He said urgently. "Get rid of these pictures and Elijah and I will cause the rock to cave in inside the Lockwood catacombs."

They couldn't allow any of this to fall into the wrong hands. One wrong move and Mikael would know everything. And Klaus? Klaus would be dead, along with the rest of them. Stefan still firmly believed Klaus was the only hope they had of saving themselves – even if the hybrid wasn't saving them on purpose.

He couldn't understand why the other occupants of the room were staring at him in astounded silence, until he realised they weren't staring at him – they were staring behind him.

"Hello Stefan."

The photograph he was holding slipped from his hands, fluttering to the floor silently as he joined the others in gaping at the new arrival. It was Elijah who finally spoke, having remained unruffled at the sudden entrance.

"Hello Katerina."

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><p><strong>AN:** Okay so I'm heaps busy packing, it's 7pm here and I fly out at 4am - I've done nothing! Buuuut, I really wanted to surprise you guys with another chapter before I left. So while I got to spell check, I didn't get to proof read, so I'd be really grateful if you could let me know about any mistakes you spot :)

Also, as I won't have seen the latest ep, no _major_ spoilers, kay? (:


	17. XVII

Greetings from Hong Kong! (: _SURPRISE!_

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>It wasn't until two days later that Stefan began to fully relax once again. He had assumed, along with the rest of them that Katherine's appearance meant Mikael was soon to follow but the brunette had explained that after waking up from a Mikael induced slumber (a result of being drained almost to the point of death) the tomb had been empty and 'papa original' as Damon had taken to calling him had long since took off.<p>

Katherine had, much to everyone's dismay, been staying at the boarding house since then claiming she wanted to hang around and see what this Mikael character was going to do. Personally Stefan thought she just felt that staying informed was the safer option because there was nothing in this world stronger than Katherine's instinct for self-preservation.

Over the two and a half days since he'd last spoken with Klaus he'd had three missed calls and he'd vowed resolutely not to answer any of them. There was a little voice in his head saying that if he answered it, just maybe Klaus would tell him what he wanted to know, or even more ridiculous that the hybrid would apologise.

Stefan wasn't an idiot. Klaus wasn't going to trust him any time soon, in fact he was ninety percent sure he never would, so he wasn't going to let himself get any deeper into this mess than he already had. He wasn't going to answer the phone and he wasn't going to go traipsing off across the united states to find the hybrid either. He was going to stay in Mystic Falls and try and figure out a way to save his friends.

Another thing he'd realised after they'd destroyed all the pictures and closed off the cave for good was that if these paintings were in Mystic Falls this whole time, since the conception of the first vampires and the original legend with it. Then that meant they were from here.

Klaus' accent had always been indiscernible in origin, Stefan assumed from travelling from place to place for a thousand years, but never could he have imagined the hybrid and his family were from right here in Mystic Falls, just like him.

Elijah had confirmed his suspicions when he brought it up to the older vampire but was reluctant to say much else on the matter. He supposed that family was probably a sore spot for all of them, not just Niklaus and that perhaps when Rebekah returned she might be more forthcoming with her memories. She seemed to be the last time he saw her in any case. He needed his burning curiosity sated though, one way or another and he was sure he wasn't going to be talking to Klaus any time soon.

They hadn't retrieved Caroline's car that day and he had been relieved when Elijah had later offered to accompany her because to be honest in the mood he was stuck in these last couple of days he wouldn't have been able to control his temper had Tyler Lockwood's arrogant face made an appearance – which it had.

Apparently, according to Elijah, the teenager hadn't been to happy to see Caroline accompanied by another man and had flew off the handle almost immediately. Thankfully he hadn't lost all sense of control and gotten physical because even Elijah might not have been able to contain him in that state – he really was becoming an issue.

Elijah had put him in his place with words though (or so he'd said) and Stefan didn't find that too hard to believe. Elijah's amplified trait was his morality and Stefan had seen first-hand that when something offended the older vampire he would put the offender soundly in their place. And traditionalist as he seemed to be, Stefan was pretty sure the brunette did not appreciate Tyler beating up a woman, much less his girlfriend.

The more he thought about it though, the surer he was that there was something going on between Elijah and Caroline. The original had looks that were reserved only for Stefan's bubbly blonde friend and only when Caroline wasn't actually looking his way. And Caroline? You could always tell when Caroline had a crush. As much as she had matured, she was still the same teenage girl she had been six months ago.

They seemed to be spending more and more time together these days, which while normally would have been something that bothered Stefan, he found himself surprisingly okay with it. While he could be a little over protective of his friends and those thy chose to surround themselves with, he had been content the last half of this week to just wallow in his room.

He hadn't had the best couple of days that was for sure.

He hadn't wanted to exit his room today either but Elena had barged in and demanded that he join her and the rest of the group on their picnic out at the falls. It was a sunny day outside and for once, she had decided, they all should enjoy some time out to have fun and not worry about all the supernatural crap that goes on.

He had only reluctantly agreed once she promised to let him get ready on his own and meet them out there. He didn't tell her of course that the reason he needed some time to himself in the morning was because he hadn't been _hunting_ in three days but she didn't need to know. He didn't want to be a downer on everybody's day but in accordance with not leaving his room for the past few days, he hadn't fed – at least not on fresh blood. And he was fast coming to a point where he would lose control if someone slipped and grazed their knee or something and at a picnic in Mystic Falls? Whatever could go wrong, would go wrong.

Once he'd dressed in a grey t-shirt and jeans and donned his trademark ray ban sunglasses he made his way through town looking for a meal. When he spotted Mrs. Lockwood at the Mystic Grill he nearly made the decision right then and there because honestly, what better way to make Tyler pay than drain his mother?

He didn't even feel the least bit bad about his sadistic thoughts considering the late mayor's wife had also played a major part in delivering Caroline to her father to be tortured. That and she had been a general thorn in the side of all the vampires in Mystic Falls for a long time.

He knew though realistically that killing her would be a bad idea. Besides the fat that everybody would know it was him, she was most definitely on vervain, the woman probably put it in everything she drank which made draining her a very painful, if not impossible task.

A little annoyed that he couldn't ruin Tyler Lockwood's life he trudged on deciding to enter a little clothes boutique he remembered Caroline dragging him into once. If he remembered correctly a delicious redhead worked on the counter.

The bell rang above his head as he opened the door and the shop attendant's head shot up with a greeting smile. It was the same girl he remembered and he smiled, wondering if she would recognize him.

"Can I help you?" Obviously his sunglasses were enough to disguise his face and he smirked thankfully, moving towards her, predatory.

"As a matter of fact, you can." He grabbed her shoulders looking deep into her eyes and carefully weaving his compulsion. "Go to sleep." He ground out, catching her dead weight as her body fell toward him. He sank his fangs into her neck, moaning at the taste of fresh human blood for the first time in what felt like a lifetime.

He hadn't intended to kill her. He'd put her to sleep so that she wouldn't feel a thing – wouldn't remember anything but the next thing he knew he was staring down at her dead body, her throat a torn out and bloody mess coating the front of his t-shirt.

Her arm was sticking out at an odd angle and he had to look away, swallowing heavily. Slowly so as not to get blood on his face he stripped of his ruined t-shirt, discarding it on the floor and pulled a new one from the shelf, breaking off the tag and slipping it on over his head.

He looked down at the shop assistant morosely for a second before replacing his sunglasses and resolutely walking out of the store. There was too much blood for him to even try and cover up his mistake so what he needed to do was get out of the immediate vicinity as quickly as possible.

He walked casually down the footpath and made a beeline for the park. Not as far away as he would have liked but then he didn't really have a choice since he'd promised Elena he'd meet them there for their little picnic. It was his fault for choosing a victim so close to the park in the first place really.

Elijah looked at him knowingly when he appeared and he remembered that the original vampires had much finer tuned senses than the rest of them. Ignoring the look he sat down next to Elena on one of the three picnic rugs the girls had probably scrounged up and placed together.

It was strange at first having everyone together. I mean honestly, who can say they've even imagined Elijah sitting on a picnic blanket? Really? The only thing that would be more ridiculous is if Klaus were here. His expression immediately darkened at that thought and he fought the urge to just get up and return home, suddenly irritated at the smiling faces around him.

As if imitating his mood the wind picked up around them, whipping away napkins as clouds crossed over the sky, turning a sunny day overcast.

"Woah," Elena said startled, holding the edge of the picnic blanket down where it fought valiantly to flap up and hit her. "Guess it's not the perfect day anymore." She laughed a little and Stefan realised that it was after lunch time by now and he had missed most of the day and thankfully – most of the picnic.

"So," Elena whispered in his ear. "Do you think there's something going on between Elijah and Caroline?"

Stefan raised an eyebrow at her quizzically before bursting out laughing. "Elena!" He gasped, "they're both vampires, they _can_ hear you, you know." She looked over to the two in question who were indeed staring at them a little awkwardly and her face flushed bright red. She looked at him and simultaneously they both burst into laughter again.

It felt good to just be one of the group again and catch up with everyone. The whole group consisted of Stefan, Damon, Elijah, Alaric, Caroline, Elena, Jeremy, and Bonnie who looked more than a little awkward since he'd arrived, no longer being able to take refuge from Jeremy in conversation with Elena.

His brother was shooting him careful looks from a few feet away, no doubt watching his every move with Elena. He rolled his eyes, turning back to his ex girlfriend and asking her seriously, "have you told him yet?"

Elena's eyes widened and she looked between him and Damon, refusing to make the same mistake again and acting dumb. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Have you told my brother," he reiterated, "that you're going to give him a chance?" Elena turned red, mortified and when he shot a look over to his brother he found him gaping, mouth moving but unable to form words.

Stefan smirked as Damon suddenly stood, striding over and pulling Elena up from her seat next to him and dragging her away from the rest of the group. He could see her laughing timidly and he smiled a little, hoping that his little nudge was worth how pissed Elena would be at him later for interfering.

The sky rumbled ominously and they all sighed, realising their nice afternoon in the park was over. "How about we take this back to the boarding house?" He offered, looking around as everyone nodded in agreement. There was no harm in letting everyone hang out there together – half of them practically lived there anyway.

He supposed some of them wouldn't be too happy about encountering Katherine in his home but they'd just have to put up with her because as far as he was concerned, the terribly self-centred bitch that she was – she _had_ saved his life from Gloria and the least he could do was give her a place to stay for a few days, then they'd be even.

They all began packing up the blankets, Alaric collecting the food when Caroline spotted her mother walking towards them from the edge of the park. As she reached the rest of the group she began to speak to her daughter however her eyes were locked on Stefan.

"I'm going to be home late tonight." She said, "so don't wait up for me okay?" At Caroline's enquiring look she continued on, all the while watching Stefan's face for a reaction. "Cindy that works at the clothing store, she was found dead just now. Animal attack."

At that the rest of the group turned to face Stefan and he had to will himself not to shift uncomfortably. "What?" He asked, frowning, trying to appear annoyed that they would immediately assume he was the culprit – even though they were correct.

The sheriff's gaze finally left him and he couldn't help but feel relieved.

"You have fun with your friends." She said to Caroline before turning to leave the group to pack up the rest of their things. It had started to spit rain and they needed to get a move on back to the house before they all got soaked.

Caroline however pulled him by the shirt away from the rest of the group. "What did you do?" She huffed out exasperated, biting her lip.

"I...I didn't mean to." He found himself unable to lie to her face, running a hand through his hair, frustrated. "I just...lost control."

She stared at him. "Why is it," she began, "that when Klaus, the one who made you start murdering people in the first place," she glared here, "is around, you seem to have more control over your thirst?"

He sighed, looking away from her awkwardly. The rest of the group were finished and were now heading off toward their cars, obviously it wasn't necessary to wait for them considering they could be home faster without the aid of a motor vehicle. Elijah however seemed reluctant to leave.

"Look," he finally caved. "Sometimes, when I'm with him he lets me...drink his blood." He looked up at her expressionless face, "and it's _amazing_ Care, honestly, I've never tasted anything so good in my entire life." He smiled a little. "It's...filling." He tried to describe. "It keeps me grounded for a couple of days."

She frowned at him for a moment. "Wow."

"I know," he said, strained, "I'm messed up."

"No...that's just..." she trailed off before saying louder, "it sounds kind of intimate, you know?"

He shifted awkwardly. "Yeah." He stared at her meaningfully. "It is."

"Oh." She murmured, "Oh! Oh, right you want me to drop the conversation because I'm making you uncomfortable, which is totally understandable-," she babbled and he cut her off.

"Seriously Caroline...let's just go home." He winced, turning to head back to the boarding house.

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><p>It turned out that inviting everyone back to the boarding house to watch TV hadn't been the best idea he'd ever had because the first thing that came up on the TV was Andie Starr's reporter replacement informing them that Cindy Rogers, a twenty five year old shop assistant had been found dead, mauled by an animal.<p>

This of course caused many sideways glances to be sent in his direction and a rising tension that was practically tangible to take over the room. He rose awkwardly from the couch, telling the others he would bring back drinks while Damon and Elena set about choosing a DVD, looking much more content with each other than they'd been this morning.

He'd barely gotten back to the lounge room when he heard the front door slam open and he, Damon and Alaric stood up in alarm. What now?

It didn't take long for Tyler Lockwood to barrel into the room, eyes alighting with fury at the sight of the group.

"Having a little gathering are we?" He spat, eyes tinting gold. "How nice of you to invite me."

Elijah stood up at this and Stefan moved to stand in front of the hybrid. "You're not welcome here Tyler," he said with ripper arrogance before his tone turned deadly. "Get out of my house."

Surely he wouldn't be such an idiot to try something in the house when not only were Stefan, Damon _and _Elijah present but also Alaric and Bonnie.

"You know, I don't think I will." He could see Damon's hackles raise at the smart ass tone as Tyler made his way over to the liquor cabinet, seemingly perusing their scotch selection. "I've decided I don't like you Stefan." The new hybrid continued slowly, pouring himself a drink.

"You really have no respect for me at all. Why don't you respect your betters Stefan?" Stefan snorted at that, rolling his eyes at the cocky attitude, eliciting a glare from the teenager, golden eyes burning furiously.

"I also don't like how close you are to Klaus." The brunette said and Damon started clapping from behind him.

"Finally!" His older brother said sarcastically, "we get to the real reason. You're jealous that Stef gets all the attention from your lovely sire." Damon's acidic tone didn't do anything to help calm down the werewolf and Stefan fumed internally. Tyler didn't like how close _he_ was to Klaus? How about seeing it the other way round, the prick.

His brother's hand on his arm stopped him from attacking the hybrid, though the smirk Tyler was sporting drew a glare from both of them.

"Look," he said, arrogant once more. "The way I see it, you're Klaus' only weakness and because I'm loyal to him I can't let that stand."

Damon cocked an eyebrow. "Let me get this straight. You think Stefan makes Klaus weak, so you're going to kill him in order to eliminate your glorious sire's fatal flaw so he will be untouchable?"

At the hybrid's nod Damon burst out laughing. "That's ridiculous!" He guffawed. Stefan could tell his brother was about to say something snide again but before he could get the change a fist crashed through his stomach and his eyes widened as Damon choked on his own blood.

He rushed forward attempting to throw the hybrid off his brother but was tossed back into the wall himself, crashing through the brick at a one handed push from the teenager. He groaned, rolling back to his feet. He might actually die here. Not even all of them, with the help of Elijah were strong enough to kill a hybrid. They were done for.

"Shit." He hissed, dragging himself back towards his brother, watching as Elijah began to circle Tyler. He dragged Damon who was grimacing in pain back out of the way of the fight, watching helplessly as hi brother passed out. Elena and Bonnie rushed over to him.

"Ric's gone to get some of his hybrid bombs, wolfsbane mixed with vervain." Elena explained, pulling Damon's head into her lap.

"We have to do something." He said, looking around frantically for anything that could help them. He'd travelled with Klaus for months, he knew what a hybrid's resilience was like and he sincerely doubted Alaric's toys could keep Tyler down for long.

Bonnie looked at him worriedly. "I'll do what I can but..."

Stefan nodded. She didn't have the power of a hundred dead witches anymore only her own. She was plain Bonnie Bennett now and that wasn't enough power to harm a hybrid – and if newborn hybrids were anything like newborn vampires, he'd still be far too strong for one of her little headaches to affect him.

He set his jaw, standing up to situate himself by her side and watched helplessly as Tyler, one hand gripping Elijah's throat, holding him against the wall, drove a chair leg through the original's heart. The brunette slumped, turning grey and while Stefan knew he would eventually wake up, it probably wouldn't be in time to save them.

Slowly, Tyler turned to face them. "I don't want to hurt you Bonnie." He warned, taking a step forward.

She shook her head, silently telling him that she wasn't going to back down. Niceties weren't going to fly with her, especially coming from the abusive boyfriend. Much to Caroline's annoyance, as with most things that happen in Mystic Falls, everyone knew about that little incident within a day. No thanks to him and Damon of course, not that he regretted putting the word out, the little bastard deserved everything he got anyway.

Stefan moved his shoulder, placing himself in front of the witch but it was never going to be enough. Tyler was so _fast_. So much faster than any of them could anticipate and before he knew it Bonnie was gone. She just wasn't beside him anymore. Spinning around wildly he found Tyler putting her unconscious form down next to Elena who was still tending to Damon.

"We didn't have to do this the hard way Stefan." The hybrid said distastefully. "All I wanted was you." As he began stalking towards him Stefan had to ignore the insane urge to run the voice in his head screaming that he couldn't win this one, not this time.

Tyler lunged at him and Stefan put his shoulders down, attempting to stop the attack by a makeshift tackle but instead of pushing him back his collarbone just crumpled with a sickening crack. He was fairly sure the bone at the top of his shoulder was shattered into tiny pieces too – the humerus bone?

He groaned in pain, crumpling to his knees as Tyler stood over him, the chair leg coated with Alaric's blood fisted in one hand.

"Stefan, Stefan, Stefan." He pulled him up by his collar, shoving him against the wall behind him, holding him up by his throat as he had done Elijah. "I wish I could say I'm sorry I have to do this, but I'm really not." His hand had tightened on Stefan's throat now and he was choking, hands scraping against Tyler's, trying to pull off his unimaginably strong grip on his neck.

When the hybrid simply raised the stake to rest at his chest, hovering over his heart and pushing at the fabric of his t-shirt Stefan stopped struggling and simply screwed his eyes shut, hands falling to his side and balling into fists.

He was expecting it to hurt. He was expecting the stake to push straight through his heart, to shudder and feel his life drained from him painfully as he wrinkled into an unrecognisable corpse. He couldn't bear to open his eyes. One minute there was still pressure over his heart, breaking skin and beginning to push through the surface and the next it was gone and he was no longer suspended against the wall, instead collapsing into strong arms.

"I got you."

He choked, gasping as air returned to his lungs, gripping onto the sleeves in front of him tightly, still not daring to open his eyes. He was shaking as arms wrapped around his back, gripping him tightly and he finally opened his eyes, trying to calm himself down.

"Perfect timing." He murmured shakily. He was holding onto Klaus tightly, still refusing to let go, though it didn't seem to bother the blonde all that much. Over a knit-clad shoulder he could see Rebekah kneeling by the corpse of Tyler who was face down, a white wooden stake protruding from his back.

Rebekah looked up at him stonily. "Another second later..." The next thing she did was grip the dead hybrid's shoulders and in one fluid movement, tear his head from his body. Stefan closed his eyes to the sight, startled by the macabre display and the fact that they had managed to kill him in the first place.

"How?" He finally released his grip on the blonde hybrid, looking up at him questioningly. He saw the hesitance in sea blue eyes but refused to back down. He recognised this would be a repeat of their last conversation on the topic and it was up to Klaus if he wanted to change to end result.

Stefan's heart leapt into his throat as Klaus turned and stalked away, over to where Tyler's body was. He felt it sink as he watched, knowing that while he'd given the ultimatum he didn't like what the outcome would be.

He looked on as Klaus wrenched the wooden stake from the severed abdomen and came to stand back in front of him. "It's the stake." He looked into Stefan's eyes seriously. "It's a special stake." He watched on reverently as Klaus slowly pulled his hand out, closing the stake within it.

Stefan stared at him with shock. When the hybrid's expression didn't change he brought the weapon up to his face to study it closer. It didn't look like anything special. He wasn't sure what kind of wood it was – it was lighter than most, but there weren't any definitive markings, no carvings...it wasn't even specially carved. It wasn't sculpted at all actually, it was just an average, rudimentary piece of wood that looked like it had just been ripped out of a tree.

"Really?" He looked up at Klaus sceptically, handing it back to him carefully.

The blonde rolled his eyes, amused. "Yes, Stefan."

At this point Elijah was beginning to stir as was Damon and Klaus motioned for Rebekah to join him, walking towards the door.

"Wait!" Stefan exclaimed suddenly, "where are you going?"

The hybrid turned back to him, raising an eyebrow. "Back to what I was doing before you got yourself into trouble."

Stefan gaped. "You can't just leave!" He yelled, taking a couple of steps forward.

Klaus stared at him mockingly, beginning to walk backwards. "I have nothing keeping me here, Stefan. We're done."

Stefan stopped dead, feeling cold. It took him a few seconds to compute exactly what was said and he glared once he realised what was going on. Klaus wanted him to come to him – the arrogant bastard.

Doing exactly the opposite of what his gut was telling him he snarled, through grit teeth, "that's right. We're done." before pushing past the blonde with his shoulder and storming outside. He stood for minute in silence, jaw twitching, as every bone in his body was screaming at him to get back inside and suck up his damn pride.

For once though, he didn't have to. He felt a solid presence at his back as Klaus' arms wrapped around his waist, holding him tightly and a soft kiss was placed on his neck.

Stefan pouted, relaxing back into his arms and heaving a sigh of relief. "I've missed you." For the first time in days, he felt safe.

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><p><strong>AN:** Surprised? :D So, same deal as last time, spell checked but didn't get a chance to proof it, so any mistakes you see let me know? Also, I haven't seen the latest ep though Ashe has told me a little about it and the fact that it's not great for klefan anyway so hopefully this cheers you all up! Still no major spoilers please? (: I'm still hanging out to see it and it'll be at least another week before I do. :(


	18. XVIII

I'm baaaack! ;)

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>Stefan was used to Klaus disappearing, in fact more often than not these days Stefan felt like he was sitting around wondering what Klaus was doing than actually with him – which was strange because the older vampire had went to an awful lot of effort to obtain him in the first place.<p>

Stefan had assumed that he would wake up the next day to find Klaus and possibly Rebekah gone and find himself alone once again. It bothered him that he had formed such a strong attachment to Klaus. In fact he thought it was monumentally stupid of him. But he just couldn't help it, he could be surrounded by friends and still be unable to keep himself from thinking about Klaus.

He wouldn't dare voice his feelings of apprehension to anyone of course, not even Damon though he was sure his brother had some inkling as to what was going on with him lately. He had, after all, told Damon that he wouldn't be staying in Mystic Falls when Klaus moved on.

Whenever Klaus made to exit a room Stefan would spring to attention and from the self satisfied smirks the hybrid would send his way on such occasions he was sure that his rather overbearing attachment hadn't gone unnoticed. What really surprised Stefan (though that wasn't difficult to do these days) was that it seemed to be reciprocated.

He hadn't really had much of an option but to assume Klaus would take off again. It was hypocritical of the hybrid considering how agitated he used to get when Stefan showed any sign of defection, but ever since Mikael had made an appearance the original had become...flighty.

There was a good reason for that obviously, but it still irked Stefan immensely. Fortunately though that seemed to have changed. It had been just over twenty four hours since the hybrid had returned and killed Tyler Lockwood and he hadn't let Stefan out of his sight once!

He didn't know whether to be ecstatic or beside himself – this is exactly why they say 'be careful what you wish for'.

It was, quite honestly driving Stefan insane. No matter what, he was always within reaching distance of Klaus. Normally this wouldn't bother Stefan, while he respected personal space with others he was still a very tactile person and being in close quarters with someone else was never an issue. But this was Klaus who genuinely seemed to find affection unsettling and now all of a sudden he was close enough for Stefan to feel the heat radiating between them _all the time_.

And despite it all, the blonde hybrid wasn't showing any more endearment than he normally did, just possessiveness – a whole tonne of possessiveness. Stefan liked to think that this was how Klaus showed his fondness for him because besides his family the original wasn't particularly protective of anyone. Maybe he was just building up false hope, imagining what he'd like to see, but he couldn't help but think that maybe Klaus cared about him too.

"Seriously, what's up with you?" He asked grumpily as Klaus blocked his path just as he was about to gain his freedom via the front door. He received a glare and no response for his troubles and Stefan frowned in consternation. It was really starting to bug him now. What exactly had changed? If he didn't know better he'd say it was his near death experience with Tyler Lockwood but that was over now right? The kid was dusted for good.

He went to move around the blonde only to have Klaus remain unmoved in the door frame, leaning against the wall and staring at him blankly.

"Seriously Klaus." Stefan sighed, frustrated. "I need to talk to Caroline."

That was another thing that had backfired on them spectacularly. Although after his turning Tyler hadn't been a stellar boyfriend (far from it, in fact) Caroline still loved him. It hadn't been much time at all really since the werewolf was changed and it seemed that Caroline still couldn't forget what he used to be like. Stefan could understand that, in fact he was probably the best person to understand that. Caroline however had seemed to resent Stefan, maybe even blame him for Tyler's death.

He could understand that too, really. But Tyler was trying to kill him – he would have succeeded had Klaus not turned up. That didn't matter though, what mattered to Caroline was that her boyfriend who despite their issues she still loved, was dead. Killed by Stefan's...boyfriend, for lack of a better term.

Caroline had locked herself in her room, not allowing anyone in to talk to her but Elena and Bonnie. What made him feel even more guilty was watching Elijah become moody and sullen and the idea that perhaps he'd ruined whatever was budding between them before it had even began.

He couldn't think like that though. This wasn't his fault.

He ignored the little voice in his mind that whispered it was Klaus', he didn't want to hear that.

He stared at the hybrid in question as he remained immobile in the doorway and the blonde finally raised an eyebrow replying, "so pick up the phone and talk to her."

"She's not answering my calls." Stefan grit out. "So move."

Klaus' eyes narrowed and azure seemed to darken. "You're not going anywhere."

Stefan crossed his arms over his black t-shirt, biting his lip and and clenching his fists underneath his forearms to try and hide his agitation.

"I'd noticed that." He ground out. "Why?"

He was surprised to see Klaus hesitate for a second before pushing Stefan back further into the entryway, hands grasping his hips.

"Because I said so." The hybrid replied and Stefan rolled his eyes.

"Not good enough." He replied, trying to will himself to push Klaus away but failing miserably.

"Because it's not safe."

Stefan's eyes narrowed at that. Now they were getting somewhere.

"Tyler's dead for good right? There's nothing else to worry about." He tried to shake off niggling feeling at the back of his mind that he was forgetting something majorly important.

Klaus seemed frustrated to have to explain himself and it struck Stefan that they were always like this. Irritated with each other, clashing. How could they have something between them when their interactions were like this all the time? The question arose again within his mind of how in the world this was ever going to work out.

"Tyler knew that you were my...weakness, he wanted to kill you for that." The blonde said reluctantly, fingers digging into Stefan's hipbones painfully though it seemed to be a subconscious gesture, hinting at his discomfort. "I have a lot of enemies Stefan, they will know you're my weakness too."

It was strange and twisted, just like their relationship but in Stefan's mind that resounded curiously like an admission of...emotion. Maybe not love, that was silly. But attachment, partiality...value. It softened him, the mushy, foolish person that he was.

"Klaus...I can't stay in this house for the rest of my life." Especially since I'll live forever he added sarcastically in his mind. An eternity of being locked up in a house because Klaus thought he couldn't take care of himself? Please. "I'm not weak, I don't need protecting." He was trying really hard not to be angry with the blonde because obviously Klaus meant well right?

"Not against Mikael." The hybrid muttered darkly and suddenly things started to fall into place.

"Mikael," he whispered, "that's what this is about, isn't it? He's here." Klaus only looked at him darkly, confirming his suspicions. When did Mikael get here? How did Klaus know? Has he seen him? Has he been in the boarding house? What did he know?

"He was here to see the Lockwood boy's unfortunate demise." Klaus said sullenly and Stefan felt his heart catch in his throat.

"Then he knows. About us." Stefan watched as Klaus nodded darkly. Shit.

"He'll come for you Stefan. He won't stop until he's destroyed me and by saving your life, I've made you number one on his list." Klaus' eyes had darkened to a deep navy blue and Stefan sighed, reaching up a hand to brush a thumb across Klaus' cheekbone, feeling more than a little awed when he didn't move away.

"Well," Stefan quirked up his lips in a smirk, "it's not like you could just let me die."

Klaus smacked his hand away at that, grumbling darkly. "It's not a joke, Stefan."

He sighed tiredly, running a hand through his brown locks. "I know that Klaus, but we aren't any closer to figuring out how to kill him considering the usual dagger trick doesn't..." Stefan trailed off, jaw dropping open.

As Klaus raised his eyebrow sardonically Stefan shook himself visibly. "I think...I think I've figured it out."

The blonde frowned. "Figured what out?"

"How to kill Mikael!" Stefan reached out to grab the hybrid's shoulders excitedly. "It was staring us right in the face the whole time!" He couldn't believe he hadn't remembered this earlier. "All these ghosts have been appearing right?" He continued before Klaus even had the chance to nod. "Well Lexi appeared and she told me that I had to tell you to listen to your mother, to open up your mind to her!" He sounded crazy, especially since he was sure Klaus had no idea whatsoever who Lexi was, but as all the pieces started to come together in his mind, he couldn't stop talking.

"And then we found this cave and Elijah and I interpreted the paintings which basically said the only way to kill a hybrid was through the original witch – her." At this point Klaus cut him off before he could continue.

"What?" It was a deadly hiss and Stefan frowned apologetically.

"I kind of forgot to mention it, but don't worry, we destroyed it." Though the blonde was clearly having trouble processing all of this at once but Stefan couldn't stop himself from powering through it. "But you knew that right? That was how you got the stake that killed Tyler."

Klaus nodded slowly, dangerously. "Yes. A stake carved from the original white oak tree enchanted by the original witch. She kept the spell to herself so only _she _could judge whether or not I'm worthy of living." He spat out the words venomously and Stefan nodded about to speak again but snapped his jaw shut at the look on the blonde's face.

"How many people know about this cave Stefan?" He couldn't help but wince, wishing that particular facet of their discovery could have slipped right passed Klaus' notice.

"Well...pretty much...everyone." He grimaced. "But you know, all it said was to contact her on the other side basically." He bit his lip at the murderous expression on the hybrid's face. "But it's okay!" He tried to placate him, "because she's on your side!"

Klaus stared at him incredulously. "She's the one that cursed me in the first place!" He snarled, "she's never on my side!"

"She gave you that stake!" Stefan threw his arms up in exasperation.

"Of course she didn't you idiot." The hybrid spat, "she gave it to Rebekah who convinced her she was going to use it on me!" That wasn't as big a shock to Stefan as it probably should have been – he was all too aware of Rebekah's powers of persuasion.

He rolled his eyes as Klaus raised an eyebrow sarcastically. "Well she tried to contact me because she couldn't get through to you. I think, she kept the secret of how to kill Mikael just as she did yours."

Klaus snorted. "And you believe she's what? Suddenly changed sides? Decided a thousand years later to cheer for the opposing team? And now that she clearly knows Rebekah and I used her?"

Stefan softened at the ounce of self-depreciation that shone through in those words. "Sorry." He muttered, looking down at his shoes. "I just think maybe you should hear what she has to say."

Klaus chuckled. "You never used to feel the incessant need to think the best of people, ripper." He ran a hand through Stefan's already tousled locks and the brunette closed his eyes.

"Well you'll have to find some other way then." He was a little disappointed, he had to admit. He'd felt for sure that he was onto something, in fact he was still stuck on it. He really believed that this was the answer. He'd just have to keep pressing and eventually maybe he could wear Klaus down.

"But until then," he continued, leaning into the hybrid's taller form, "you're going to have to let me go."

Klaus groaned in agitation. "Fine. We'll go and see your little vampire girlfriend."

Stefan resisted the urge to comment that Klaus, being the one who killed her boyfriend in the first place probably wouldn't be welcome considering he's the reason she's distraught in the first place. He decided to just take this one down as a win, but a thought then occurred to him.

"I don't suppose you could, I don't know, apologise to her?" He asked hopefully, trying to sound innocent.

Klaus gave him a deadpan look that Stefan knew all too well by now. "Not a chance." and with that, they headed out the door.

Stefan suggested they drive, though he cited convenience as the reason, trying not to let on that with the new knowledge that Mikael was in town, he felt a little more secure in a car as opposed to outside of it.

As he noticed Klaus' outfit for the first time he found it difficult to keep his eyes on the road. When did he get that leather jacket? He cleared his throat and stared determinedly ahead.

"So...Elijah went on a picnic yesterday." Klaus' lips quirked up at the attempt to break the silence.

"Did he now?" The blonde seemed amused by the image of his uptight brother sat on a picnic blanket with the rest of the Mystic Falls 'scooby gang'. "And why would he do that?"

"People like to do that sort of thing here, pretend they're normal." Stefan shot sarcastically, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. "But honestly," he continued seriously, "I think he likes Caroline."

Klaus smirked at that. "He would."

It was the sort of comment you didn't reply to, an inside joke shared between family and Stefan sighed as silence once again descended.

Klaus let out a chuckle. "Elijah. At a picnic."

Stefan's lips quirked up in a smile then, a darkly amused Klaus was better than the terrible mood he'd been in the last day and a half. He counted himself lucky that Sheriff Forbes wasn't home when they pulled up in front of the house. God knows how she'd react to Stefan showing up on her doorstep again – he was almost positive she knew exactly who was responsible for the death of the redhead from the clothing store.

He stopped suddenly as Klaus entered the house in front of him and a realisation struck him. "How did you get an invitation?" Due to their vampire heritage hybrids were just as stuck as any other vampire when it came to entering a house uninvited. He shook his head at the smirk on Klaus' lips. "Never mind," he groaned, "I don't want to know."

The house was light and airy downstairs but Stefan winced as they ascended the staircase – all the blinds were drawn, the hallway dark and no light coming from the gap under Caroline's bedroom door. She was definitely still upset. He wanted to hit himself for that thought. Of course she was still upset, they'd just killed her boyfriend (even if he'd turned into an asshole at the end there).

He knocked on the door softly. "Um...Care?"

"I know you're there Stefan, I'm a freaking vampire!" She snarled from behind the door and Klaus winced.

"You've got your work cut out for you mate."

The door flew open then. "You brought _him_ with you?" She was dishelved, in only pyjamas, eyes wide and gaping at them. "Why the hell would you bring him into my house Stefan? He killed my boyfriend!"

"Now, love..." Klaus started, stepping forward and Stefan twitched at the irrational spark of jealousy that flared up in his gut at the use of the pet name. "From what I've heard," the hybrid went to continue only to be cut off by a furious Caroline.

"Don't speak to me!" Caroline interjected and Stefan fought the urge to smile a little at the sight of Klaus' jaw grating, trying to keep on a pleasant facial expression.

He turned to Stefan then. "I could just compel her?" He reason, shrugging his shoulders only to huff as he found himself on the receiving end of two glares.

"Look Care, I know that you're upset. But it was kill or be killed." He tried to placate her. "I'm sorry that he turned out to be like this."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say too as her bottom lip wobbled dangerously and her eyes darted between him and Klaus. "He wasn't like that though!" She wailed. "You made him like that!" Stefan winced as she flung an arm out, jabbing Klaus in the chest and then thanked whoever would listen that the hybrid was showing restraint because she then proceeded to shove him off balance, yelling well...the truth really, that this entire thing was his fault.

"Now hang on a minute!" Klaus threw his arms up in defence. "I didn't _really _do anything. I may have...restructured his objectives a little, but I didn't make him an asshole, he did that all by himself."

Stefan grimaced at that, head darting from side to side as if watching a tennis match. They both had valid points he supposed. Tyler had only changed once he'd been hybridised but then, he'd never really been a great person. He'd been better lately sure, but all you had to do was look at how he'd treated Vicki Donovan to know that he was never stellar on the inside.

"You can't justify killing my boyfriend!" She shrieked at Klaus and Stefan was truly never more relieved than the moment the door slammed open and he heard Bonnie's voice yelling up the stairs.

"Caroline!" She called, coming up to the second story only to stop short at the sight of the heated staring match going on between the two blondes and Stefan helplessly looking back and forth between them.

Klaus held up a hand to the witch then, halting her in her tracks. He took a steadying breath and Stefan raised an eyebrow at the pained look that crossed his face. "I'm...sorry." He breathed out and Stefan's jaw dropped, torn between shock and amusement.

It was silent for a moment before Caroline started yelling once again. "No you're not! You're not sorry at all, you never are!"

Klaus shrugged at that. "You're right. I'm not." He admitted nonchalantly and Stefan groaned.

"Just...go wait downstairs. Please?" He added the last word after receiving a dark look for presuming to tell the hybrid what to do.

As Klaus passed a wide eyed Bonnie and descended the stairs moodily, Stefan turned back to Caroline, closing his eyes and ignoring the witch's questioning as to 'what the hell was going on?'.

"Look, I just came to see if you were alright." He murmured and watched as his closest friend sighed.

"I'm not alright Stefan." She said softly, "It'll be along time before I'll be alright." She looked down and once again Stefan kicked himself for how things had turned out, whether he was to blame or not. "But..._we're_ okay Stefan." He couldn't help but sigh at the admission, relieved.

"Good." He whispered softly, looking up at her shyly and enveloping her in a hug. He paused awkwardly after pulling away. "I'm gonna go." He shifted on his feet, "leave you to talk to Bonnie."

He made his way downstairs without looking up and continued out to the car, finding Klaus leaning against it, seemingly basking in the sunlight. "Any more visits you feel the need to make today, ripper?"

Stefan rolled his eyes, getting back in the car without a word. He turned to Klaus as a thought suddenly struck him. "Why didn't you ever tell me you were from Mystic Falls originally?" He asked curiously and Klaus' gaze darted up to meet his, startled.

"None of your business Stefan." The hybrid grunted in a way that assured Stefan that yes, there was something he was holding back.

Deciding to just ignore the omission Stefan shook his head and put the car into gear. Klaus would always have secrets, that was something he was just going to have to get used to no matter how much it irked him.

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><p><strong>AN:** A little short I know, but I couldn't get a better place to cut it off considering the next chapter is the final chapter. I kid you not. One more and an epilogue friends and it's curtains for AAO!

And I haven't been back through to edit yet either, I know, I'm a liar. But anyway, I've seen the new ep! I must admit, three quarters through I was thinking, I don't know what these people are talking about, this is brilliant! then of course, the end happened. On the bright side though, did you see the near kiss scene? Or am I just a wishful watcher? As soon as Stefan was on the phone to Klaus I immediately had scenes from AAO running through my head. I flash to my own fics, how lame!

Anyway to end the long AN I also wanted to thank anonymous reviewers and those reviewers whose PM function is disabled, I normally reply to any questions but some users I can't PM, so thanks a tonne! :)


	19. XIX

You're all going to hate me so much after this...

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p>Stefan had spent the better part of this week going insane inside his own house and he honestly wasn't sure how much longer he could take it before he snapped.<p>

"Klaus!" He moaned, exasperated as the hybrid's hand shot out at lightning speed, gripping Stefan's wrist tightly and pulling him back down onto his bed. "I need to go outside." His annoyance grew as the blonde didn't bother to even open his eyes, only giving a small shake of the head from it's resting place on Stefan's pillow.

"Honestly, I don't even care if Mikael kills me today, I'm going." He tore his arm out of the other's strong grip and strode to the door, surprised when Klaus made no move to get up. He didn't stop though, not wanting to give the hybrid an opportunity to change his mind and continued out the door, shutting it behind him. He was halfway down the hall when he heard Klaus' voice.

"Stefan." The blonde's warning tone resonated as if they were next to each other and he stopped short of the staircase. He frowned, feeling a little like a trained dog.

"I _said, _I'm going outside." He spoke at a normal volume, knowing the other vampire would hear him just as well and continued his journey down the stairs. He wasn't surprised when he heard the blonde emerge from the bedroom behind him, following him down the stairs, now having pulled a t-shirt on.

A warm hand came down on his shoulder, spinning him around. "I wish you weren't so stubborn." The original muttered before pulling him forward to meet his lips. One thing Stefan loved beyond anything else about being with Klaus was that the hybrid was _warm_. Unlike the usual cold skin that vampire's sported Stefan could feel the blood pulsing under Klaus', warming his skin in turn. It was just another thing that made him want to _touch_ all the time.

"Mmm." Stefan hummed, pulling away, content. He opened his eyes to meet Klaus' azure orbs and smiled. "Nice try, but no. Still going outside."

It wasn't that he thought Klaus was being ridiculous. He was overly cautious, Stefan supposed, because this was an eventuality he hadn't planned for. Klaus hadn't had feelings for anyone or anything for a long time, there was no way he could have seen this coming and so he was unprepared for a situation where it could be used against him. Mikael was a very real threat, that much they all agreed on.

Stefan found himself wondering though whether Mikael was terribly strong physically or if he just had the ability to bring Klaus down mentally. He was the hybrid's worst nightmare come to life really – he knew everything the blonde hated about himself and wasn't afraid to use it against him. If he was how Stefan envisioned him to be, he was worried on the hybrid's behalf, not for his own life.

"What exactly is so pressing that you 'wouldn't care if Mikael killed you today'?" The hybrid asked, dissatisfied, stepping back and crossing his arms in an agitated way.

Stefan smirked. "I'm hungry." He stated simply, raising an eyebrow at the original.

"You have blood bags downstairs." Klaus countered and Stefan rolled his eyes at the weak retort. Really? Klaus telling him to drink from blood bags? That was irony if he ever saw it.

"It's not the same and you know it." He felt like he was nearly pouting and it annoyed him that he couldn't help but feel like a child in this situation, not getting his way. He wasn't a child and he didn't need Klaus' permission to do anything. He wanted fresh, human blood from the vein and he was going to have it.

He turned his back to the hybrid and headed out the door, knowing the blonde would follow him anyway. He liked that, he felt powerful knowing that he could make the decision this time and there was nothing Klaus could do about it. He would want to protect Stefan so he would follow him anyway. It was an improvement in Klaus' attitude however because in Stefan's experience the hybrid's solution to everything was to snap his neck. This was much better.

Once they'd set off walking towards town, Stefan setting the pace at human speed, he decided to bring up something that had been on his mind the past few days.

"So...why didn't you ever mention you were from here?" Klaus' eyes narrowed and Stefan could practically _see_ him building an invisible wall between them.

"None of your business." The blonde snapped back at him, turning his eyes ahead, determined, it seemed, to avoid the subject.

"Okay," Stefan nodded easily. "Just, you know, I thought it was interesting you were from here, considering I am and all." He knew he was probably pressing too hard, too fast, but wasn't that always the way with them?

"Stefan!" Klaus groans, exasperated, raising a hand and tugging on his blonde locks in a gesture so shockingly human the younger vampire stops dead in his tracks and stares. It isn't until the hybrid snaps, "What?" that has him shaking his head visibly and begin walking again.

"Just, you know...I was wondering about your family. Your brothers and sisters." He knew as soon as the words left his mouth he shouldn't have asked, especially considering his own track record with the subject. He was daggering and un-daggering the original's left and right these days and he knew that the blonde was none-too-happy about it.

To Stefan's surprise, while Klaus' steps slowed briefly the hybrid didn't turn to snap at him, or look at him at all even. He simply began to talk.

"Elijah and Rebekah...they were closest to me. They vowed to stay with me after..." He trailed off and Stefan regretted asking altogether. "My other siblings," he continued, "weren't fond of me." He stopped walking suddenly and turned to face Stefan completely. "When my mother's infidelity came to light...it tore apart our family. And it was my fault." As the brunette opened his mouth to protest Klaus continued sharply, "they blamed it on me anyway."

After an awkward moment of silence Stefan spoke again, knowing he really shouldn't, but unable to keep his curiosity at bay. "Is that why you killed them all?"

Klaus breathed in deeply. "Mikael has been trying to kill me for a long time Stefan. Ever since I killed my mother."

The younger vampire smiled a little at that because even though it was an inappropriate moment and a terrible topic to connect over – they had something in common there.

"You're not the only one who's killed a parent Klaus." Stefan said softly, reaching a hand up to grip the hybrid's arm briefly. An understanding passed between them then.

"So," Stefan broke off suddenly, beginning to walk again. "What are you going to do once Mikael's dead and gone?"

"With my brothers and sisters?" Klaus confirmed, frowning to himself. "I don't know." He admitted, hands falling into his pockets. He seemed to hesitate for a moment before looking back at Stefan, a dark expression flitting across his features. "What are you planning on doing after this is over?"

Stefan knew the tentative question could easily be damaging for the hybrid and he sighed, smiling a little and cursing the original family for the older vampire's obviously low self worth. "You know," he began slowly, "your family is only jealous of you." He smiled as the hybrid raised his gaze and continued to quote himself from his 1920's memories. "You're a king." He stops the hybrid then, putting a hand on his arm and looking over at him sincerely. "I would have followed you then if I could have."

Klaus' eyes glint with a happiness that Stefan can't remember truly seeing before and can't help but feel proud for being the one that put it there.

"It was too dangerous for me then," The hybrid looks guilty for a moment before he continues. "You would have been a liability." Stefan doesn't hold it against him. Though he was still a little disgruntled at being compelled out of his memories, he couldn't say he didn't understand, as long as he wasn't planning on doing it again.

"I don't care." He said suddenly. Feeling the need to impress it upon the blonde. He'd said it already that morning basically and even now he was proving it by leaving the safety of the boarding house for something like feeding that could be considered trivial in the scheme of things. "I don't care that I might be in danger." He reiterated, waiting for Klaus to let out a small smile before he began walking again, satisfied that he'd made himself clear.

It wasn't long before they were on the outskirts of the town centre and Klaus had compelled two girls to follow them back into the woods and away from prying eyes.

"I know you'll be quick ripper," the hybrid said, sounding only half like a question. Stefan nodded briefly and together they began to feed.

Between deep mouthfuls Stefan looked up to watch Klaus. The hybrid was being messy today, red rivulets running off his chin and down his throat and Stefan groaned at the sight of the bloodied adam's apple moving as the blonde swallowed. Blue eyes shot up to meet his at the sound and Stefan dropped the brunette he was feeding on uncaringly to the ground, stepping over her and moving towards Klaus with predatory strides.

The hybrid had dropped his meal now as well and strode forward to meet him halfway. Stefan moaned as their lips connected, tasting the warm blood still in the blonde's mouth, sucking his bottom lip in between his teeth. Slowly he moved down the hybrid's neck, leaving open mouthed kisses as he went until his lips were hovering just over the carotid artery. His fangs lengthened, piercing the skin and then he was in bliss.

It had been so long since he'd had Klaus' blood, far too long in his opinion. Not so long ago he'd thought he was becoming addicted to the stuff and convinced himself to keep his fangs away from the hybrid for a while, because developing a taste for only Klaus' blood just wouldn't do.

It was just as he remembered though. Just as exhilarating. Instantly he felt refreshed – stronger, faster, better in every way. It was an enormous high. He pulled away at hearing a strangled groan coming from the forest floor. The brunette he'd been feeding on was rolling over, attempting to get to her feet and Stefan stepped back from Klaus, disgruntled.

He quickly grabbed the girl and pulled her to her feet, compelling her to forget everything she'd seen here. After doing the same to Klaus' meal and sending them on their way he spun to face the hybrid, finding him leaning silently against a tree, puncture marks having sealed up almost instantly.

"What?" He frowned, narrowing his eyes at the look he was receiving, even though he knew exactly why it was there.

Klaus shook his head, rolling his eyes and turning to walk away. "I never know what to expect from you, ripper."

Stefan quickly followed after him, feeling a little affronted even though he knew better than to take anything Klaus said to heart. "What does that mean?" He tugged on the blonde's arm, stopping his advance to the tree line.

Klaus sighed. "One day you're ripping girls apart in the department store and then the next you're going to the trouble of compulsion." It didn't sound like the hybrid was angry, just frustrated with him – confused. And that was okay because Stefan was a little too.

"I just...I don't know, some days...I feel worse." He tried to explain the tugging in his chest, the pangs when a young girl or even a man looked too similar to someone he knew. The guilt that resemblance caused, the space where his heart should be beating, shuddering painfully until he was either distracted or lost himself to the bloodlust.

He shot a dark look at Klaus when the hybrid went to speak. "Don't tell me to turn it off." He muttered sharply, tired of the overused solution to everything. When the blonde only raised his hands in a surrendering gesture he couldn't help but feel relieved, he wasn't in the mood for a confrontation.

They walked the rest of the way back to the boarding house in silence, Stefan glancing across every few seconds to check Klaus' facial expressions. They hadn't fought and the hybrid's face revealed nothing but the air between them was tense and uncomfortable and Stefan hated it.

Klaus would look over every few minutes as if to assure he was still there and then return to scoping out the surrounding forest, gaze flickering uneasily between the trees. The younger vampire took in the tight tick of the hybrid's jaw and his rigid strides realising that perhaps it wasn't their almost-disagreement that was making him uneasy. Something was wrong.

"What is it?" He asked the blonde quietly, though neither slowed their pace.

Klaus glared ahead for a moment, shifting in his stride and catching his bottom lip between his teeth. "I don't know." He grit out and Stefan felt his stomach drop. Something was seriously wrong. The uneasy feeling intensified the further they walked and Stefan was relieved when the boarding house was finally in sight.

When they entered the house Stefan went straight for the living room, failing to notice Klaus stop dead behind him, only just inside the threshold. It took only a moment to notice the hybrid's absence at his side but it was long enough. Before he got a chance to turn around and question Klaus' wariness his gaze fell on his brother, coughing up blood on the living room floor.

"Damon!" He almost yelled, rushing forward to where his brother lay on his side, blood running from the corner of his mouth and his hand grasping at the gaping hole in his stomach. Stefan looked down at him frantically, considering for a moment that maybe they should have been more pro-active about the ghost issue, but could Mason Lockwood and his casper-esque friends really be that vindictive?

"Stefan." Damon groaned, hand reaching up to grasp the younger Salvatore's wrist which he was about to tear open to heal his brother. Damon looked up at him hazily, struggling to stay aware. "Mikael." He choked out, before coughing, hand going back to grasp at his stomach.

The next few seconds were a blur to Stefan. The realisation that Mikael had done this, that he was here in the boarding house, looking up to meet Klaus' gaze in the doorway and seeing the hybrid begin to move toward him at super speed only to come to a screeching halt when Stefan was raised up by an arm around his neck and a stake pushed firmly against his chest, over his heart.

It took his mind a moment to process exactly what had just happened. "Don't move." Was ordered sharply into his ear and he stilled, fresh blood pumping his heart rapidly in his chest cavity as he stared up at Klaus' with wide eyes.

The hybrid's attention was only on the figure behind him, holding him roughly in place with the wooden stake poised to strike. While Stefan would normally imagine Klaus' mind to be running a mile a minute, calculating exactly how to diffuse the situation the quickest, he could tell instead of focusing on how to incapacitate the enemy Klaus was just frozen stiff. Locked in place staring unwaveringly at who Stefan had no doubt was Mikael, holding him hostage mere feet from the hybrid.

"You know, at first I was planning to convince you to help me." The original father spoke tauntingly in Stefan's ear. "I thought that would be nicely poetic, the betrayal by his closest friend. Very Shakespearean don't you think?" He continued on, not waiting for a reply and Stefan felt anger boil in his veins. "But then I saw you together, and I could barely believe my eyes," he laughed to himself, dark voice resonating across the room. "He actually cares about you!"

Stefan felt a snarl building in his throat and thrashed backward, trying to dislodge the original's grip, taking the elder by surprise with his newly acquired strength but he wasn't strong enough or fast enough to escape.

As he was roughly pulled backwards all he could focus on was Klaus, still in the same spot, unmoving, focused only on the man behind him. Stefan felt a hot breath on his neck and had only a second to panic before fangs tore a painful wound across his throat and the smell of his own blood tainted the air.

He growled as Mikael bent down to taste his blood, letting out a surprised hum and then a chuckle. "This is rich. He actually let you feed from him." Stefan had still yet to even see his face but he already wanted to kill the bastard. He watched as Klaus finally shook himself out of his stupor, taking a furious step forward only to stop as Mikael pushed the stake further into Stefan's chest.

"Let him go." The hybrid's voice was raw.

"No, I don't think I will," Mikael mused sarcastically and pushed the stake through Stefan's flesh inches below his heart. He screamed as pain like fire spread through his chest and would have dropped to his knees if not for the hand around his throat.

"How about this?" Mikael spoke again and Stefan saw his arm raise out in front of him holding an ornate stake made of a wood the younger vampire recognised very easily, having seen it recently when Klaus' killed Tyler. "You take this," the original threw the stake at Klaus, watching as he caught it, "and drive it through your heart. Then maybe I'll let your little ripper go."

Klaus' grip was so tight Stefan thought the stake might just crumble to pieces before his eyes. The hybrid's eyes were on the floor and Stefan couldn't discern what he was thinking. Damon was still unconscious a few metres away – they were in this on their own.

"Of course," Mikael continued, "you're probably better off just letting him die. After all it's not like he actually _cares_ about you, you practically forced his loyalty!"

When Klaus finally looked up his ocean blue eyes were shimmering with unshed tears and Stefan froze, unable to believe what was unfolding around him. "My whole life you've underestimated me!" The hybrid snarled. "What makes you so sure his feelings aren't his own?"

"Well I suppose his reaction when you drive that stake through your heart might just convince me then." Stefan could hear the smirk in his voice and he snarled, lashing out again, this time kicking the original behind him and receiving a muffled groan and painfully tightened grip for his efforts.

He looked up to meet Klaus' eyes. "Run." He rasped out, urging the hybrid to leave him. It wasn't worth killing himself over.

Klaus only stared back silently, before turning his gaze back up to meet Mikael's. "Fine." The blonde snarled and pulled both arms back, gripping the white oak stake tightly and plunging it into his chest.

"NO!"

He watched as Klaus slowly crumpled to the ground, hands sliding off the sharpened wood and falling limp at his sides. He faintly recognised the voice that had screamed as his own and he slid to his knees, the original father no longer supporting him with a choke hold around his throat.

He stared uncomprehending at the body in front of him. How could this happen? This...this shouldn't be possible.

"It's the stake," Mikael began nonchalantly, almost sadistically. "The stake had to be from the original tree, enchanted by the original witch." Stefan got his first look at the cannibal vampire as he stepped out from behind him to study Klaus' unmoving body. Of course, the original didn't know that Klaus had shared that particular information with him, so his gloating wasn't as effective as it should have been.

"I don't know how Niklaus came upon his, through his usual trickery I suppose. But Esther was more than happy to enchant a weapon for me to destroy her abomination of a son."

Stefan felt his blood heat up, boiling in his veins. How dare he? He didn't stand a chance against the original, their earlier squabble had shown that but he couldn't bring himself to care. Klaus was dead – for good. Damon was unconscious and god knows what had become of Rebekah by now. He feels tears prick at his eyes. This had to end.

Veins shot down from beneath his eyes, running in black rivers over his cheekbones as his fangs dropped harshly through his gums and he launched himself at the original. His speed was no match for the older man and he was tossed aside easily, crashing through the wall of the living room.

He struggled to get to his feet as Mikael advanced on him slowly, like a predator stalking prey. He slid back down the wall, realising there was no way he could escape this, he was going to die here. And that was okay.

He watched as Mikael picked up the stake from where he'd dropped it in order to stop Stefan in his tracks. The original took his time striding towards him and Stefan prepared to close his eyes in defeat.

Mikael's eyes suddenly widened in shock and his mouth opened, a pained gargling sound escaping. Stefan's eyes darted down to his chest where the pointed end of a stake was protruding. As the original's body pitched forward the smaller form of Klaus was revealed from behind him.

There were no words that could explain the swelling in Stefan's chest. He had to fight not to let out a strangled sob of relief as shifted forward, aware Mikael was still moving.

The original looked up, his mouth trying to form words but unable to get anything out as his body shut down. Klaus smirked vindictively. "You should know better than to ever trust _mother_." The hybrid spat as his step-father's thousand year old corpse finally fell into decay.

The look of pure relief on the blonde's face when he turned was almost too much for Stefan to handle. He smiled then, a real smile that the younger vampire had never seen on him before and it gave him the energy to finally pull himself to his feet.

He stared at the hybrid, lost for words. "How?" He managed to spit out, looking from where the stake used to be in his chest down to the corpse on the floor.

"You were right," Klaus admitted. "About my mother being the key to everything." He turned around to survey the room, though they both knew it was just so he didn't have to face Stefan. "I spoke to her. I couldn't tell you – it had to be a secret."

"I don't care." Stefan can't help but interrupt. "It doesn't matter now," he says plainly. "It's over. It's finally over." He smiles genuinely at Klaus then, but his smile falters when he remembers why the stake had ended up in Klaus' chest in the first place, part of a plan or not.

"You should have run." He glares, trying to impress upon the hybrid that his life is nowhere near valuable enough to kill oneself over.

Klaus simply raised an eyebrow sardonically. "I protect what's mine."

Stefan couldn't help but push forward then, pulling the hybrid to him, needing to physically feel that he was alive and animate. "So, you had this planned the whole time?" He can't believe Klaus has kept this from him, even if it has worked out for the better.

"I couldn't risk you doing something stupid." Klaus was back to his old self again then. "Seeing you there, when he stabbed you, it was..." Stefan shook his head. He didn't need the hybrid to finish that sentance to know what he was saying, he'd seen the terrified look Klaus had sent him as he tried to rush forward. He was scared - for Stefan and probably terrified at the fact that he was feeling such an emotion at all.

"What he said, about...caring..." Stefan watched the hybrid struggle, wanting to hear the words even though he knew what the blonde was trying to say. He was the first person Klaus had truly cared about in such a long time, he was out of his depth here - he didn't know what to do or say and probably didn't understand his own reactions either.

"You were the first person to ever like me for what I am." Stefan's blood pumped faster as he stared into azure eyes. "The first person who didn't think I was..." The blonde trailed off and Stefan's brow furrowed.

"You're important." Klaus stated finally. "Too important."

Stefan frowns at the hybrid, about to ask where exactly this is going when he looks into the hybrid's distraught eyes. "Stefan," his voice is raw with emotion once again and the accent Stefan loves shines through stronger than ever. And then their lips are attached and the brunette moans, pulling the hybrid closer. When they finally release each other Stefan is staring into azure eyes and wondering why that felt like goodbye.

"Stefan. You will forget me and my family, you won't remember anything about us. We never met." Stefan's mouth drops open and he tries to cry out, tries to fight it, to do anything but he's already caught in the compulsion. "You will leave mystic falls and everyone who lives here behind. Forget them and stay safe."

Stefan feels like his heart is being torn from his chest. Why is he doing this? Mikael is gone! He wants to believe that the fear Klaus won't admit to has got the best of him, it's clearly made him irrational. He wants to think the hybrid will realise he doesn't need to do this - that he'll stop being an idiot and change his mind. But Stefan sees the look in his eyes and he knows, even if he doesn't understand, the blonde is serious this time. He wants to scream but he can't. He puts everything he has into fighting this compulsion but it's not enough.

"Forget."

His concentration slips.

And he's lost.

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><p><strong>AN:** Put the pitchforks down? Please?

If you all try not to kill me I'll post the epilogue which may or may not have a happy ending? (:

Also, if you haven't checked it out yet I posted a new Klefan oneshot to fix the disaster ending of homecoming.

Plus, I've recently gotten addicted to twitter, where people are totally closed-minded and there's like no klefan fans whatsoever, so if you have it, come find me (at)sekab and say hello! :)


	20. XX

I tweaked a little bit of the last chapter already, because I think I missed the mark a little, so just a heads up. It's only the last scene, re-reading isn't necessary if you don't want to.

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>All At Once<em>

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><p><em>Epilogue<br>_

_New York City, 2042_

It's rush hour and he's in the subway. God knows why he still uses the damn thing. He's lucky he fed already today because the train is packed with people and the close proximity would be setting off his bloodlust in a spectacular way if he hadn't. If there's one thing Stefan Salvatore didn't handle well it was bloodlust.

Suddenly the train jolts and he loses his footing, stumbling forward, catching himself on a leather clad shoulder. He looks up and meets the deepest azure eyes he's ever seen in his hundred and seventy odd years. Something pulls in his chest as he stares, unmoving into ocean orbs.

There was an itch at the back of his mind as he took in the man's curly, dark blonde hair and pale skin, contrasting rosy lips curling up on one side. He feels a spark and he somehow knows deep inside of him that this man is important. He's...something.

The train arrives at the next station and expressionlessly, the man removes his hands from his shoulders and exits the train, flitting through the crowd milling about the platform. Stefan panics. He _needs_ him.

He bounds out of the carriage just as the doors begin to close, pushing the humans roughly out of his way as he darts through the crowd, eyes locked on the blonde figure's back. He doesn't care about injuring the commuters, they're getting in his way.

Shoving people out of the way he finally closes in on the figure, grabbing his arm and forcefully pulling him backwards, spinning him around to stare once more.

"You..." He can't understand the need, the want building up in his chest like a painful ache. "Who are you?" He whispers, reaching a hand out as if to touch a pale cheek.

The man finally speaks, a beautiful accent shining through that makes the vampire's knees weak.

"Hello, Stefan."

And just like that, the world stops.

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><p>Far out bro. Honestly I cannot believe what this evolved into - it's a monster! It started out as a 2000 word oneshot! I blame JoMo and his damn good acting. "You're the only comrade I have left." BAH! 80000 words later! Fudge!<p>

There are a few people who deserve a massive thanks but I'm too afraid to name names because I _know_ I'll miss someone.

I'd say a lot of sappy crap but I'm sure this is not the end of our relationship klefan lovers! If you don't have me on author alerts, I just posted the prologue to my next klefan fic, because klefan won't leave me alone. It's called _Falling_ so check it out if you have time (:


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